MUMBAI: The 172-year-old JJ Hospital in Byculla made its first contribution to the organ donation programme on Sunday, two decades after the state’s first cadaveric organ transplant was successfully carried at Sion Hospital. Doctors welcomed the participation from the state’s biggest hospital, calling it a need of the hour— given that 90% of the city’s cadaver donations and transplants take place in the private sector.

The donor was an accident victim from Jalgaon, Sangeeta Mahajan (38), whose family gave their consent after several rounds of counselling by JJ doctors as well as dean Dr TP Lahane over the last two days. The approval from the family came after an appearance from the officer on special duty of medical education department Rameshwar Naik, who too hails from Jalgaon. Only the donor’s liver and eyes could be harvested to give a new lease of life to two.Dr Lahane said it was a big moment for the hospital. “Organ donation in a public set-up is challenging as a majority of patients lack awareness. In JJ, 70% of our patients come from rural Maharashtra, unlike municipal hospitals where most of the patients are from the city or the periphery,” he said. He added the programme would be intensified as the state has put a lot of impetus on boosting donations. Barring Mumbai and Pune, most other districts like Aurangabad and Nagpur are taking baby steps in organ donation…..Readmore