To propagate awareness on organ donation, The National Deceased Donor Transplant Network (NDTN) along with HOPE Foundation has inaugurated a four-day certificate course on 'transplant co-ordination' in New Delhi recently. The course will be conducted by National Deceased Donor Transplant Network. This certificate course will empower the transplant coordinators with knowledge of deceased donor transplantation & to co-ordinate organ transplant in the hospital and also network with other hospitals. This course will be attended by more than 30 transplant co-ordinators associated with government and private hospitals from Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, Orissa, Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh.

The curriculum for the four-day certificate course is prepared by National Deceased Donor Transplant Network members. The course will have 28 sessions on different aspects related to organ transplant and retrieval. Some of the topics for the course includes History of transplantation, THO Act 1994, Brain Death, counselling, Organ Retrieval packaging & preservation, Internal hospital co-ordination, etc.

At the end of the course, coordinators will undergo a written test on the basis of which they will be awarded certificates. This certification course is 1st of its kind in India.

Speaking at the inaugural occasion Dr. Vatsala Trivedi, president, NDTN, "over the years it has been observed that hospitals having transplant coordinators onboard helps to facilitate the deceased donor transplant procedure and those hospitals register maximum transplants. This course will help transplant coordinators to assist in the legal procedures for organ transplant/ retrieval and also assist them to counsel the donor families and inform respective doctors.

"The Indian Transplant Act was laid down in the year 1994 to legalize brain death and to prevent illegal sale of organs. The Act made it mandatory for blood relatives only to donate organs, or the donor has to wait for a deceased donor. Since the THO Act 1994 was quite stringent, not only did it curb the illegal trade, but also hampered the legal procedure of donation of the organs," said Rani Jethmalani, chairperson, Hope Foundation.