Haryana, 10 August 2024: To help address some of India’s biggest health challenges—dearth of organ donations and thalassemia—leading multi-speciality hospital Medanta hosted an academic session for doctors in Hissar on August 10. Intending to advance patient education, and improve access to specialised healthcare services, leading experts from Medanta Gurugram, Dr. Arvind Kumar, Chairman of Lung Transplantation and Dr. Satya Prakash Yadav, Director of Bone Marrow Transplant, spoke about the critical role of organ donation in saving lives and raising awareness about bone marrow transplantation (BMT) as a cure for thalassemia. India grapples with a severe shortage of cadaveric organ donations, or organ donation after death. This tragic consequence is driven by preconceived notions, especially concerning one’s faith, and misinformation, such as desecration of the body or the donor family being charged. For a decade now, India’s deceased organ donation rate has been under one donor per million population which needs to increase to 65 donations per million population to fill the gap. Despite medical advancements, this shortage continues and is further exacerbated by complex matching processes, limited awareness, and inadequate infrastructure. Dr. Arvind Kumar, Chairman of Lung Transplantation at Medanta, Gurugram, said, “In India, over 5,00,000 people with end-stage disease lose their lives each year as there are far fewer donors than needed. As medical professionals, our role is to provide accurate information, allowing individuals and families to make informed choices that honour their values and beliefs. It is also essential to address challenges such as donor matching complexities, logistical issues, and the need for enhanced awareness and infrastructure. By dispelling misconceptions about organ donation, we can significantly improve the number of lives saved with cadaveric organs.” While organ donation addresses a wide range of medical conditions, another critical health challenge in India that requires similar attention and awareness is thalassemia. Like organ transplantation, the treatment for thalassemia—bone marrow transplantation—also relies heavily on finding suitable donors. Both issues highlight the urgent need for increased public awareness and participation in lifesaving donation programmes. Thalassemia is a rare congenital blood disorder that requires affected children to get lifelong blood transfusions, as frequently as once in 2-3 weeks, to stay alive. It is also the most common genetic blood disorder, disproportionately affecting the country’s north and northwestern regions, with a prevalence rate of approximately 8.9% . Each year in India, nearly 10,000-15,000 children are born with thalassemia. This is about 10% of the global burden. Bone marrow transplant (BMT) has proven to be a highly effective cure, with reports from experienced centres indicating that the chances of overall cumulative survival with a fully matched sibling donor are over 90% . Dr. Satya Prakash Yadav, Director of Bone Marrow Transplant at Medanta, Gurugram, stated, “Despite being curable, Thalassemia remains a significant health concern in India. Many families are unaware of BMT, a treatment with high success rate when intervention is early, and a fully matched donor is available. Our patient education efforts aim to provide insight into success rates, costs, and support systems, empowering families, and professionals to consider BMT as a viable option and overcome access barriers.” The experts further emphasised the need for doctors, healthcare providers, policymakers, and the public to work together in raising awareness, dispelling myths, and creating a supportive environment for both bone marrow and organ donation. Through these collective efforts, we can save countless lives and significantly improve the health outcomes for thousands of Indians affected by thalassemia and organ failure. The event was followed by a CME for members of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) and the Indian Medical Association, Hisar Branch on “Overview of Lung Transplantation and Recent Advances in Chest Surgery” by Dr. Arvind Kumar and “Recent advances in BMT & Cell Therapy” by Dr. Satya Prakash Yadav.