Pune: Manipal Organ Sharing & Transplant (MOST), in association with ZTCC Pune, ISCCM Pune, and the MOHAN Foundation, successfully concluded the National Organ Donation Summit on October 5, 2024.
The event, held over two days, brought together national and international experts in organ donation and transplantation to discuss significant advancements and future prospects in the field.
A primary focus of the summit was the potential of Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD) to expand India’s organ donor pool. Specialists also examined quality assessment and the development of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tailored specifically for India, aiming to enhance the overall organ donation process.
Dr. (Col) Avnish Seth, VSM, Head of MOST, who served as the Organizing Chairperson, noted the progress being made towards implementing DCD protocols, which would be instrumental in improving organ preservation techniques.
"In 2023, we surpassed 1,000 brain-dead organ donors for the first time in India. Now, we are moving towards establishing DCD protocols, which require quick action after the heart stops to save organs. A key technique for this is Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP), which helps to restore blood flow to vital organs for 2 to 4 hours, ensuring better organ viability.
This summit represents a critical step in creating a low-cost, hybrid ECMO system for NRP in India, which will greatly improve transplant outcomes and save more lives," Dr. Seth remarked.
The summit also marked the creation of a National Consortium on Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) for DCD, which will serve as a guideline for the country’s efforts to improve organ donation procedures.
Dilip Jose, Managing Director and CEO of Manipal Hospitals, praised the event's success and reaffirmed the hospital's commitment to raising awareness and improving systems for organ donation.
He emphasized the importance of making organ donation a widely understood and accepted practice in India, ensuring that patients in need have better access to life-saving transplants.
Dr. Anil Kumar, Director of the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), highlighted the need for comprehensive quality assessment in organ donation, stressing the importance of ensuring excellence throughout the process, from identifying potential donors to transplantation.
A key highlight of the summit was the presentation of an innovative, low-cost hybrid Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) system designed specifically for DCD cases.
This technology is expected to revolutionize organ preservation by increasing the viability of organs for transplantation, ultimately saving more lives.