New Delhi, June 10 (IANS): A city-based hospital, in collaboration with several voluntary groups, on Wednesday launched a campaign to increase awareness for organ donation among people residing in Delhi-NCR.

The Delhi-NCR region has the lowest organ donation rate in the country.

According to the health ministry, the region witnesses an average of 20 organ donors per year while Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra see an average of 350 and 116 organ donors per year respectively.

Campaign On Organ Donation (CORD), launched by Saroj Super Speciality Hospital in collaboration with Mohan Foundation and Organ India, will mostly emphasise on encouraging the youngsters through social networking sites and community mobilisation.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), only about 0.01 percent in India donate their organs after death, while in Western countries around 70-80 percent of people pledge their organs.

"At present, Delhi sees an average of 20 cadaver donors per year and through CORD we target to enrol about 500 percent more live donors -- or three donors per day across Delhi-NCR," said P.K. Bhardwaj, medical director, Saroj Super Specialty Hospital.

The organisers will also submit a petition to HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia urging them to make organ donation as part of school curriculum.

Muneet Kaur Sahi, transplant coordinator at Mohan Foundation said: "While India's organ donation rate at 0.34 per million is among the lowest in the world, Delhi, despite having a high literacy rate fares poorly among states."

Mohan Foundation is an agency whose campaign has led to massive awareness and high donor rates in Tamil Nadu.

R.P. Singh, head of centre for liver transplant and gastro sciences at Saroj Super Speciality Hospital, told IANS that in the process they will also seek the guidance of national institutes like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdurjung.

"We need public support to overcome the cultural deterrent, while government and private sector should get together to address the capacity issues," he said.