Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MD)
Mangaluru, Sep 20: In a laudable initiative, AJ Hospital & Research Centre on Sunday September 20 launched an awareness campaign on organ donation in collaboration with Mohan Foundation, Chennai (a non-profit organization that coordinates organ donation and transplantation activities in India) at City Centre Mall in the city.
The campaign, named 'Jeevanvileena' was launched with police commissioner S Murugan unveiling the campaign logo.
Addressing the gathering, S Murugan lauded AJ Institute for taking up the noble cause. "We need many more organ donations in our country. People should feel more comfortable in donating organs, and at the same time, everyone must follow traffic rules to evade accidents and thereby sudden deaths," he said.
Dr Prashanth Maarla, medical director, AJ Hospital & Research Centre said, "There are an estimated 160 people per million who end up with end stage kidney failure, for which transplantation is the best option. There is a need for 25,000 kidney transplants every year, but only 3,500 transplants are being done per year in India.
"We all have gathered here for a great cause. Organ donation is not so frequent in this region. It is time for us to hold awareness programmes to spread the word as much as possible," he added.
Tulu film actress Sonal Monteiro said, "There are hundreds of people who are waiting for organ donors and it is time for us to provide them a second chance to live."
Deepak and team from AJ Institute sang the theme song of the Jeevanvileena campaign.
SDM Law College students performed a mime show depicting how organs are transported from one place to another and the importance of donating them.
Chairman of AJ Institute AJ Shetty, Dr Amitha Maarla, Prashanth Shetty, City Centre executive Saud and others were also present.
During the 20-day campaign, there will be a street play by NSS students on September 26, public shows and dance performances on the theme on September 27 and October 4, and an awareness rally on October 7. The campaign will culminate with a valedictory ceremony on October 10.