Organathon Foundation (OF) is a charity trust founded & promoted by me. This pro bono publico- initiative has stemmed from the long professional experience of myself being a Professor of Surgical Gastroenterology.

The aim of the organization is to ensure that no organ failure patient should be allowed to die for want of an organ for transplantation. This can happen if we are able to develop a social culture of pledging our organs so that they can usefully be donated in case the person becomes brain dead. Organathon Foundation has taken upon itself the task of developing such a culture in our country. It strives to spread awareness in the public and reach out to each and every eligible person and educate, motivate & convince them to pledge his/her organs. The main focus in the first few years will be the Northern part of India and later it will be extended to the rest of the country.

Organathon Foundation (NGO) was registered on 17th February 2016 and it started its operations from Gurgaon from 21st March 2016 onwards. The Organisation was inaugurated by prominent current & past ministers and was widely covered in social media.

This Organization is registered (TM) under three fields-- Health , Education and Social Welfare.

Currently & intentionally to start with the aim of Organathon Foundation (OF) is to promote Cadeveric-Brain dead donation in Road traffic accidents. In South the rate of such donations is nearly 15 % where as in the Northern region it is less than 0.05 %. Our foundation thus needs to sensitise not only our police but also the entire medical fraternity and public at large. This will put an end to the commercial organ trade which is spreading like a menace in our country.

The above mentioned facts had motivated the Organization to direct its efforts to this serious and ever widening Demand-Supply gap between the organs available for donation and the organ failure patients waiting for transplantation. Unfortunately, the Northern India greatly lags behind in cadaver organ donations, although there are several hospitals registered as organ transplant centers. The promoters of this foundation want to do everything possible, in a structured manner, to bridge this gap by the way encouraging brain dead donations over live related donations which are currently over 99% in Northern India.

The Organization is equipped with due 80 G & 12 A exemptions. An elaborate & scientific website has already been developed and shall be aired from the first of August covering both the aspects, medical as well as social.(www.organatonfoundation.org )

Problem at hand and its magnitude : Organ and tissue transplantation are one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine enabling the end stage organ failure patients to now continue living a quality life for several years. Brain dead patients can be a useful source of organs for donation especially at a stage when for the donors they have become useless. Generally, several organs like kidney, heart, lung, liver & pancreas or tissues like bone marrow, bone, heart valves, eye tissues or skin, can be donated to different potential recipients.

In India, a large number of people die every day in road traffic accidents. Global Status report on Road Safety 2015, WHO (2015 ed) estimates road traffic fatalities to the tune of 130.1 per 100,000 motor vehicles or one fatality every 20 seconds. Delhi being ranked the city with the highest number of Road Traffic Accidents (National Crime Record Bureau, Ministry of road Transport & Highways, Law Commission of India, Global Status Report 2013), can be a huge resource for cadaver organ transplantation which can help in discouraging the live related transplants which have clear & definite risks to the otherwise healthy donors too. Cadaver organ transplantation can also put an end to the existing unethical and unconstitutional business of organ trade. The road traffic accident victims are mostly young and otherwise healthy but only a very small fraction of these victims serve as a source for organ donation as their families do not give their consents mainly due to lack of awareness or sensitivity or due to myths, fears & apprehensions associated with organ donation. Here lies the importance of a systematic & dedicated effort to bridge this gap specially in Northern India and Organathon Foundation proposes to do exactly the same. Our dedicated website shall be a ready reckoner/manual for donor apprehensions.

Brain behind the project : The idea of Organathon was generated in the mind of Dr Ajay K Sachdev, who is a highly qualified (MS, PhD) Senior Surgical Gastroenterologist of repute. He is the Founder, Managing Trustee & Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of the foundation. Though his main area of interest is Hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgery, his sincere concerns about the problems related to organ transplantation have motivated him to do something serious and concrete in this direction. His observations while analyzing this problem closely have revealed a lack of awareness & sensitivity among the general public and also a lack of drive & commitment among the healthcare workers & hospital managements towards cadaver organ transplantation.

Aims & Objectives : The aims & objectives of this trust include reaching out to people, create awareness and convince them to pledge their organs as a ‘gift of life’ to save several other lives, There are several myths, fears & apprehensions related to organ donation, which will be addressed through counseling sessions and by launching innovative campaigns to educate the masses to instill willingness and enthusiasm in them to offer the gift of life through organ donation. The Trust is determined to conduct all counseling & motivation sessions & campaigns free of charge. Moreover, the trust shall not hesitate to provide financial & social help to the organ donors / recipient families of the unprivileged section of the society The trust also aims to sensitize doctors & care givers so that they are not only aware about the protocols related to declaration of brain dead but also the processes and regulations of cadaver organ harvesting & transplantation.

The Trust also strives to create a central registry of voluntary organ donor card holders and link it with the NOTTO registry created by the Government. A vibrant networking with the registered organ transplantation centers and hospitals dealing with trauma and critical care patients, will be done to optimize the organ harvesting and organ utilization program.

Activities : With careful planning, awareness programs and counseling sessions will be organized in schools, colleges, professional institutions as well as in corporates, associations, RWAs and other groups. Special campaigns will be launched to popularize the programs & projects. Conferences & workshops will be held for interaction with doctors & specialists as well as with nurses, technicians, social workers and volunteers. The following specific activities that will be carried out as follows:

Under the public awareness campaign:

1. A National Conference (Ann-1) shall be organized on the Organ Donation which will address many more core issues related to it i.e. Health, Education, & Social welfare.
2. Declaration of Organ Pledge Day and also launch of Indian Transplant Society in the above said conference which shall include two subdivisions, one chapter shall be held by Organ Donors and another chapter shall be held by medical practitioners, paramedical staff which shall also include nurses, technician and Transplant Co-coordinators or anyone else who shall be directly or indirectly working towards the larger goal of organ transplantation. So as to expand the horizon which shall help in developing the uniform protocols and Knowledge bank.
3. An initiative “Let’s talk about it” will be launched in schools and colleges to bust myths and perceptions about organ donation and people shall be motivated to pledge for organ donation.
4. An effort will be undertaken to enhance the public's awareness on the harmful effects of beverages and food to the organs. And a campaign shall be launched so that beverages or food items, which causes harm to organs, sold in India will be required to carry graphical and textual health warnings. The warning must cover at least 65% of the surface of the pack, of which 50% must be pictorial and the remaining 15% contains textual warnings in English, Hindi or any other Indian language.

Training / Education:-

1. A training curriculum shall be developed on the National protocols and guidelines on management of organ transplant, will be developed for the registered medical practitioner as well as paramedical staff. State/National level consultation meetings shall be organized with government and other stake holders at the respective state and national headquarters..
2. Training courses as well as Certificate & Diploma courses will be conducted for doctors, nurses, paramedics, coordinators, on medico-social aspects of organ transplantation. Efforts will also be made to encourage research in different aspects related to organ transplantation.
3. 3. We would also work with government stakeholders for the incorporation of syllabi on Organ Transplantation in the school starting right from the middle classes and being gradually increased in scientific contents up to the higher ones — HRD / NCERT have already been approached and negotiations are in a positive direction.

We will also introduce a road map to control Childhood Obesity which has been already been declared as an epidemic (Tsunami) by WHO -leading to fatty deposition in the Liver (NASH/NAFLD) eventually damage liver. (A study by AIIMS group have found NASH IN ~>65% in class 10th -12th students).

Monitoring & Evaluation: The main yardsticks of assessing the performance output will be (a) percentage of eligible population who have been reached out (b) percentage of success in convincing the people to pledge their organs (c) Number of brain dead patients’ families reached out and the conversion rate achieved (d) number of organs / tissues harvested for donation. The assessments will be done on a quarterly basis and audited annually to ensure the achievement of the targets.

In a nutshell, Organathon Foundation strives to develop a culture of pledging organs for donation in our society, to ensure that no life is lost for want of an organ for transplantation.

Members:- Organization is already well structured with the following team

1. Board of Trustees- Nationally/Internationally renowned
2. Scientific Committee
3. Legal Cell
4. HNV & Associates as CA
5. Three teams directed to cover Health ,Education, Social welfare
6. IT Team
7. Miscellanious

Chairman has put in very sincere efforts to bring the Organization upto the current level and also acknowledges the hard work and time invested voluntarily by all team members for this noble cause and salutes them for the same.

PAN NO.-AAATO5228Q

Prof Ajay Kumar Sachdev
C-604 PARSVNATH GREEN VILLE
Sohna Road
Sector-4
Gurgaon-122018
09810602801
ajay.sachdev@organathonfoundation.org
ajayksachdev@yahoo.com