Mobile app to assist in organ donation
Notto will launch the app in next 10 days.
New Delhi: To simplify the process of organ donation, the Delhi government is launching a mobile app in next 10 days where people can voluntarily pledge to donate their organs. In this regard, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (Notto) has developed the mobile app.
Dr Suresh Badhan, the Notto consultant coordinator, told this newspaper that apart from helping people to pledge their organs, the app would provide all necessary information related to organ donation.
Dr Badhan said the app would provide information about the availability of organs, hospital having transplant facilities and number of transplants proposed. “In other words, all the information about organ donation will be available to the citizens in their smart phone. The Notto app will launched in next seven to 10 days and will be available at all the mobile platform,” he added.
According to Dr Badhan, there was a huge gap between the organs required for transplantation and the organs available; this is due to lack of awareness among masses. “Awareness should be created among the people, especially in the case of brain dead, to clear the myths and misconceptions regarding organ donation. For an example, while only 7,500 kidney transplants took place last year, two lakh new patients are required for kidney transplants in the country. And out of these, only 1,500 were donated by the family member of brain dead patients,” he said.
Dr Badhan was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of a campaign, ‘Spreading Hope’, by Lourd Vijay, professional dancer, to raise nationwide awareness on the importance of organ donation.
Mr Vijay got diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in 2013 and underwent a transplant in 2016. Through ‘Spreading Hope’, he aims to drive from Chennai to Ladakh, covering 9,000 kilometers, in a bid to spread awareness about the seriousness of kidney disease.
“The disease has changed the way I look at life. It has given me a new purpose and that’s how I started the campaign. This mission is to raise awareness on kidney disease and organ donation in the country,” he said.