CHENNAI: Long years of struggle convincing relatives of brain-dead patients to give their consent for organ donation appears to be paying off, with the number of organ donors going up in the last couple of years.

“The number of donors has gone up from one to three per month. We have recorded more than six multi-organ donations in the last couple of months.

This signifies a great improvement in public awareness about organ donation,” said urologist and MOHAN Foundation managing trustee Dr Sunil Shroff, who has been campaigning for cadaver transplants.At least one fourth of the multi-organ transplants in the country happen in Chennai. “But this was not easy,” says Shroff. With every 10 people the counsellors speak to, only two agree to donate their organs. “These are people who are already aware of organ donation, he said.
It took a counsellor at MOHAN over three hours to convince a family whose bread winner, a 40-year-old businessman, was declared brain dead at a private hospital after he met with an accident. “But they refused to part with the organs. They were not sure if their religion permitted them,” says Shroff…..Readmore