Recognising the selfless contribution of the 151 donor families whose compassion gave a new lease of life to several patients with organ failure last year, the State Health Department and State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) on Thursday (August 3) felicitated them on the occasion of Indian Organ Donation Day.
The donor families were felicitated by Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar, wife of the late actor Puneeth Rajkumar. August 3 is observed as Indian Organ Donation Day to commemorate the first successful deceased heart transplant in India in 1994 after the promulgation of The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.
Speaking on the occasion, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said it is essential to spread awareness about brain death, deceased organ donation and control illegal practices related to organ transplantation. “There are several myths and misconceptions surrounding organ donation. We have involved religious heads in our campaign to bust such misconceptions,” he said.
