AIIMS holds Transplant Games to raise awareness on organ donation
The Cardiothoracic and Neurosciences Centre of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi hosted its inaugural Transplant Games, marking a significant event to raise awareness for organ donation and celebrate the potential of heart transplants in treating heart failures.
The Transplant Games were organised as a prelude to the upcoming National Heart Transplant Day, on August 3, with Paralympic athlete Neeraj Yadav inaugurating it. This commemorates India’s first successful deceased heart transplant performed at AIIMS in 1994.
It was a platform to recognise the transformative impact of transplantation surgeries and to honour the recipients who have gained a second chance at life through this remarkable medical advancement.
Heart transplants play a vital role in treating cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which remain the leading cause of death and disability in India. With approximately 10 million patients suffering from heart failure in the country, and 50,000 of them requiring heart transplants, it is to be noted that only 90-100 heart transplants are performed each year.
This means that a mere 0.2 per cent of patients in need of transplants get the life-saving procedure they desperately require. The primary factor contributing to this alarming gap is the lack of awareness surrounding organ donation.
Through the Transplant Games, AIIMS will promote organ donation by acknowledging the incredible impact of heart transplants. The event urged individuals to become organ donors and emphasises the transformative power of transplantation surgeries in treating organ failure.
Yadav emphasised the significance of heart transplants in providing a lifeline to patients battling heart failure. He reiterated the need for increased awareness about organ donation, and the Transplant Games served as a testament to the courage, resilience, and determination of every transplant recipient.
Addressing the gathering, Dr M Srinivas, Director, AIIMS, said that the medical teams at AIIMS had conducted 85 heart transplants.
He reaffirmed AIIMS’ commitment to supporting patients awaiting transplants and emphasised the crucial importance of creating awareness about organ donation among the public.
