Vice President of India promises support to Swasth Sabal Bharat campaign

New Delhi, September 4, 2022: Swasth Sabal Bharat, a national campaign on body-organs donation declared by the Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankar at Dr Ambedkar International Center at Janpath Road, New Delhi. Swasth Sabal Bharat campaign is the initiative taken by Dadhichi Deh Daan Samiti (Dadhichi) and 46 NGOs from 22 states of India. The event was also graced by the august presence of eminent personalities like former Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan, Member of Parliament Sushil Modi, Rev. Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati of Paramarth Niketan, Rishikesh and patron of Dadhichi Deh Dan Samiti Alok Kumar.

“Creation of a well-coordinated infrastructure is the foremost requirement for meeting the purpose of Swasth Sabal Bharat. There are a number of areas in the country where no eye bank exists and the bone and skin banks are rare to find. The facility of organ retrieval and transplantation is limited to only a few places in the country. In this regard, I will talk to concerned authorities in the Government of India to ensure a robust and practical infrastructure with the support of public and private healthcare systems,” said Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar.

While presenting his thoughts on the body-organs donation drive, Mr Sushil Modi, said, “There is an urgent need to establish institutes in every state for successful organ transplantation by qualified surgeons. We will definitely make efforts to build an efficient infrastructure for this noble purpose. Besides, it is my personal suggestion that we should take people’s consent on donating their organs on their driving license. Thus, if a person dies due to an accident or suffers brain-dead, then her/his organs will be preserved for donation on the basis of the consent given in the driving license.”  

“As mentioned by Dadhichi that there are many legal constraints pertaining to body-organs donation, I assure that we will make all the possible efforts to remove these impediments,” Sushil Modi further added.   

Formed in 1997, Dadhichi has been the torch-bearer in spreading awareness on body-organ donation. The primary objective of the trust is to make people realize how the donated body/organs of a deceased/donor can be life-saving for persons in dire need. Till now, more than 17 thousand donors have given their consent towards the virtuous cause of body organ donation. Over the last 25 years, the organisation has facilitated 353 body donations, 870 pairs of eye donations, six organ donations, two bone donations and three skin donations.

“We have requested the Government of India to declare a fortnight to be observed every year for creating awareness of body-organs donation; a need that cannot be ignored. During the proposed fortnight, all the stakeholders in this campaign, including governments, NGOs, and media should concentrate on spreading awareness about body-organs donation and encouraging people to participate in this mission dedicated to a healthy and strong India,” noted Dadhichi patron Alok Kumar.

“India is far behind other developing countries in terms of organ donation despite having one of the largest populations, mostly due to the lack of public awareness, religious taboos, and complicated legal structure. It is our firm belief that through this campaign, we will achieve our target to encourage more and more people towards body-organ-eye donation,” he added.