Have You Gone MAD Today?

(MAD Club Individual Project III)


How many people have you helped in all your life? Make a guesstimate.

100? 200? 300?

Imagine being able to really help up to 400 people in one simple stroke!

The MAD Club launches Project DYO - Donate Your Organs.


KEY FACTS (WORLDWIDE):

• Organ donation and transplantation is one of the most remarkable medical success stories of this century.
• It is now possible to transplant several organs and tissues. Organs include the heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver and intestines. Tissues include eyes, skin, bone, heart valves, tendons, ligaments and veins.
• However, the growing shortage of transplantable organs has reached crisis proportions and is getting worse.
• One organ, tissue and eye donor may help between 200 and 400 people.
• Most religions support donation, considering it a kind act.

KEY FACTS (USA):

• Nationally, more than 73,000 people are awaiting an organ transplant.
• Approximately 16 will die each day without receiving one.
• More than 46,000 people await a kidney transplant.
• Following kidneys, livers, hearts, and lungs are the organs in greatest demand for transplantation.
• Since 1988, the median waiting time for a kidney transplant has risen from approximately one to two years.
• The wait for livers has been even more dramatic--an eightfold increase from one to eight months.
• Between 10,000 and 12,000 people die annually who are considered medically-suitable for organ donation, yet only an estimated 5,200 donate.

KEY FACTS (INDIA):

• Approximately 50,000 individuals require cornea of eye, over a lakh nationwide suffer from renal failure and more than 2.5 lakh die of liver disease annually.
• To make organ donation possible in India and thus alleviate the suffering of millions of Indian patients, the government of India in 1994 passed an act called the "Transplant of Human Organ Act".
• However, since 1994, only 400 renal, 40 liver and 30 heart transplants have been performed from cadaver sources.

Shocking, isn't it?

FAQS ON ORGAN DONATION

WHO CAN BE A DONOR?

• Anyone from child to an old person.
• Even if you have suffered from serious illnesses in the past, you can become a donor under the right circumstances.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

• Please contact any related foundation, organization or NGO for more details regarding your country.
• Indians can contact the MOHAN Foundation (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network) (http://www.mohanfoundation.org)
  The HQ is in Chennai. They also have centers in Hyderabad and Mumbai.
  The address of the Mumbai centre is:
  Post Box No. 16775
  Sion West
  Mumbai 400 022
  India
• Upon contacting the MOHAN foundation, you will be provided a "DONOR CARD".

WHAT IS THE DONOR CARD?

• The "DONOR CARD" is the first step. Your signing the card can save many lives.
• The Donor Card is a card of credit card size and it can carried in your wallet or purse.
• The Donor Card is a way of expressing your wishes. It is like making a will. By signing the Donor card you have agreed to organ donation.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO NEXT?

• Keep this card always with you in your wallet or purse.
• Let your close relatives know your wishes about organ donation.

And that's it! So simple, isn't it?

“Don’t take your organs to heaven ... heaven knows we need them here.”