Dr Vatsala Trivedi from Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre(ZTCC) spreading awareness to the masses on the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.






Dr Anant Kumar from Apollo Hospital, Delhi talking about deceased organ donation on Star News on 4th April 2007


Doordarshan Natioanal Interview With Dr Sandeep Guleria on awareness Cadaveric Organ Donation 31st January 2007

Information to become a Donor

The following organisations are working towards the promotion of Deceased Organ Donation and Transplantation:

• Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC)- Mumbai, India
• Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation(ORBO) - Delhi, India
• Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network (MOHAN) - Chennai, India

If anyone wants to become a "Donor", you can visit on the following links of the organisations :

1. http://ztccmumbai.org/DonorCard.asp
2. http://www.aiims.ac.in/aiims/orbo/form.htm
3. http://www.mohanfoundation.org/downloads.asp

Times of India, 27th March 2007, Mumbai - Maharashtra Organ Donation Day

DNA - World Kidney Day, 8th March 2007

Hindu,3rd March - Organ Transplant norm shift on cards

Hindu - 18th February 2007

Hindustan Times - 21st January 2007 Dream Run 2007

Times of India - All Edition 18th December

Times of India,Mumbai -Saving lives is so easy

Hindu,Delhi - 25th November 2006

Hindustan Times,Delhi - 26th November 2006

Times of India - Gift of life on festival of lights

The Telegraph - Kolkata - Monitor for brain-dead organ grant

The article was carried in the Telegraph, Kolkata Edition on 9th November 2006

Cadaveric Organ Donation fails to pick up in India

Article in Sandesh

Article in Jansatta

Article in The Shadow - J&K

Article in Early Times - JK

Article in Mid-Day - 13 Oct

Article in Mid-Day on 11th October

Article in Vaartha (Bangalore/ Hyderabad)

Life and Death - Article in Times of India

By Vineetha Mokkil

When sixty-year-old Suresh Deshpande (name changed on request) decided he would like to donate his organs for transplant after his death, he was confused about the procedure he would have to follow. Many people who are considering cadaver organ donation may have found themselves in a similar predicament.

“It is vital to understand the concepts of cadaver transplantation and brain death,” says Dr Farrokh Wadia, honourary trustee, Zonal Transplantation Coordination Committee (ZTCC), Pune. If the healthy organs of a person who has been certified as brain dead is transplanted into a patient’s body within a specific window of time, the transplant can provide the patient of end stage organ disease the precious gift of life. According to the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, a patient is certified as brain dead only after stringent tests by a team of accredited specialists.

“Cadaver organ donation can save the lives of thousands of patients in the country who are waiting for organ transplants,” says Rohini Sahasrabudhe, member, ZTCC, Pune. While live donors are the main source of organ donation in India, the percentage of cadaver organ donation is a meagre 0.05 per million population. In Pune, only 45 cadaveric kidneys have been transplanted since 1997. Currently, there are around 130 wait-listed patients on the ZTCC Pune central waiting list.

“Low public awareness levels and the lack of coordination between medical professionals and social workers are responsible for the low response to cadaver organ donation,” says Dr Sunil Shroff, managing trustee, Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network (MOHAN). This Chennai-based NGO has been working in the field of cadaver organ transplants for the last five years, providing information to the public about cadaveric transplants through brochures, free booklets and donor cards.

ZTCC members emphasise that a concerted effort by government officials and non-governmental organisations is required to spread awareness. “The number of patients who are waiting for transplants runs into six figures,” says Dr Wadia. “The medical fraternity as well as the general public should be sensitised as to how cadaver organ donation can help to tackle this emergency.”

All you wanted to know about organ donation

• Donor cards can be obtained from city hospitals. Donors must carry the card with them at all times. In the event of brain death, cadaver transplants are done only with the consent of the donor’s family

• In Pune, seven hospitals are authorised to perform cadaver organ transplants. These are KEM Hospital, Ruby Hall Clinic, Jehangir Hospital, Poona Hospital, Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Institute of Urology and Sassoon Hospital

• One brain-dead body can save several lives, providing replacements for the kidneys, heart, liver, pancreas, lungs, cornea, blood vessels, skin, bone marrow and bones

• In Maharashtra, like in other metropolitan cities, the government appointed Zonal Transplantation Co-ordination Committee (ZTCC) oversees the cadaver transplant programme.This committee comprises government officials, representatives from various hospitals and members of non-governmental organisations.

• Spain has the highest percent of cadaver organ donors. Government and the church in Spain actively supports cadaver organ donation here

• Organ harvesting is performed in the operating theatre like a surgical operation. The body of the donor is then restored externally to its normal condition for handing over to relative for the last rites

Understanding Brain Death

Most of us believe that death occurs when a person's heartbeat and breathing stops. But now that breathing and heartbeat can be maintained by machines….does that mean that the patient is still alive?

The truth is that everyone dies at the time of "brain death”. Whether a person suffers cardiac arrest (stoppage of heartbeat) resulting in the lack of oxygen and nutrients to the brain or a serious head trauma resulting in brain death, it's the same diagnosis. The stoppage of heartbeat is known as ‘cardiac death’ and till date most of us recognized death with cardiac death only. After the 1994 Transplantation of Human Organs Act (India), ‘brain death’ came into the limelight. The Act, aimed at ending the organ (kidney) selling racket by only allowing the first relative to become the donor and also by legalizing and defining ‘brain death’. Cardiac death is simple to understand as the heart just stops but brain death is slightly more difficult to comprehend. Certain confirmatory tests are done before a person can be declared brain dead.


The diagnosis of brain death is made by a team of doctors including the physician, a neurologist or neurosurgeon, a doctor recognized by the state and a doctor who is also on the administrative board of the hospital. The tests are repeated after a period of at least six hours to demonstrate that this condition is irreversible.If breathing and heartbeat are maintained by machines, a brain dead person will appear to be alive. The skin may be warm, the chest will rise and fall in a breathing motion, and a heartbeat is seen on a monitor. But, even after all this, if there is no brain activity, the person is considered dead as per medical science. In case of a brain death, the rest of the body will also stop working within hours or may be days but it is inevitable.

This is the stage when a serious ethical and procedural debate comes into picture. The first is declaring a brain dead person as dead and secondly if death has taken place then can we not use organs from the brain dead person to save other lives? After much debate internationally, this proposition was accepted and has enabled transplant units to save innumerable lives that would otherwise have been lost.

There are still ethical, emotional as well as religious sensitivities surrounding the issue. This involves the medical fraternity as well as the masses, especially those who unfortunately have brain dead relatives.

We need to realize that in the event of brain death, the other organs of the patient would subsequently give up. Understanding this concept would help dispel myths related to Organ Donation. A clear understanding of brain death would not only help in the endeavour to spread awareness about organ donation but would also encourage people to voluntarily patronise the same.

The diagnosis of brain death is made by a team of doctors including the physician, a neurologist or neurosurgeon, a doctor recognized by the state and a doctor who is also on the administrative board of the hospital. The tests are repeated after a period of at least six hours to demonstrate that this condition is irreversible.

Clinically, a person is brain dead when all of the following conditions are met:

1. There is no spontaneous respiration (the person cannot take a single breath on his/her own).The pupils are dilated and fixed (the black of the eyes is wide and does not react to light).
2. There is no response to noxious stimulation (painful stimulation provokes no eye blink, no grimacing, no movements of any part of the body).
3. All extremities are flaccid (there is no movement, no muscle tone and no reflex activity in any of the limbs – either arms or legs).
4. There are no signs of brain stem activity.
5. The eyeballs are fixed in the orbits.
6. There are no corneal reflexes (stroking the clear part of the eye with a fine wisp of cotton fails to produce any movement of the eyelids).
7. There is no response to caloric testing (exposing the tympanic membrane of the ear to ice cold water fails to produce movement of the eyes).
8. There is no gag reflex or cough reflex.

Test of Oculocephalic reflex (Doll’s eye phenomenon): This test can be done to check for brain stem death. If the test is positive then other tests to establish brain death can be postponed. One may need to disconnect the patient from the ventilator for 15 to 20 seconds to perform this test.

The physician holds the patient's head between his hands and moves the head from side to side through 180 degrees. The clinician holds the head to one side for 3 to 4 seconds while looking for simultaneous eye movement to that side. A similar movement is done to the opposite side and eye movement is noticed. This test should not be done if cervical fracture is suspected.

For more on Doll's Eye Reflex, refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculocephalic_reflex

Article in Lokmat (Mumbai)

Article in Aaple Mahanagar (Mumbai)

This Ganesh Utsav, save a life!

The Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) dedicated to facilitating organ transplants in Mumbai is celebrating Ganesh Utsav with major city hospitals and NGO’s such as the Narmada Kidney Foundation and National Liver Foundation, by organizing a public campaign for creating awareness about organ donation.

Ganesh chaturthi was promoted by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who brought to the cause of independence a sense of public unity. One of Lokmanya Tilak's strongest movements to evoke nationalism was the organization of festivals like Ganesh chaturthi in Maharasthra, which not only inspired feelings of unity, but gave freedom fighters an opportunity to meet when the British government illegalized any gatherings, writings and slogans that could incite violence.

Today, an independent India such national festivals and masses gatherings can be utilized for spreading messages of a different nature. There is an urgent need to spread awareness on a number of social issues that continue to afflict our nation.

Organ donation and transplantation is one such noble cause. 12 years after the Human Organ Transplantation Act has been passed, the cadaver programme in India is still in its infancy stage and there is potentially a huge pool of brain-dead patients who could meet the demands of the country for various organs.

According to Dr Vatsala Trivedi, Secretary, ZTCC, “ZTCC and the management of hospitals that are registered transplant units like the Hiranandani Hospital, Wockhardt Hospital, Jaslok Hospital, Sir Hurkisondas Nurrotumdas Hospital, Raheja hospital and Lilavati have come together during this pious season of Ganapati festival in order to support the organ donation cause. A stall at the Lalbaug-cha-Raja provides us with a perfect opportunity to reach out to lakhs of devotees. We will be disseminating leaflets on organ donation as well as organ donation forms. Medical experts and social workers will also be present to clarify any doubts that the audience may have.”

The banners with slogans saying ‘pledge your organs, save a life’ have been put up on the walls that face the road so as to attract the attention of Ganesh devotees who pass through this path while going for the holy immersion of Ganesh Idols.

Venue: Lalbaug-Cha-Raja
Time: 9 am onwards