Health minister leads 8,000 people to take organ donation pledge in Agra

PTI, Sep 16, 2023, 5:56 PM IST

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya led around 8,000 people in taking a pledge for organ donation at the GIC ground in Agra on Saturday.

Giving a clarion call to “donate blood when alive and donate organs after death”, Mandaviya said the government has decided to give financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per month to all the poor people undergoing organ transplant. “Arrangements will also be made for their regular check-ups,” he said. The health minister said that by the end of 2024, arrangements for organ retrieval will be made in all hospitals and medical colleges of the country.

Addressing a gathering at the GIC ground, Mandaviya said that there can be no greater service to mankind than donating organs to save another life. The Union health minister also inaugurated a super specialty block at Sarojini Naidu Medical College (SNMC), Agra and an organ donation registry.

To register to donate organs, the only requirements are the Aadhaar number, and the Aadhaar-linked mobile number. Mandaviya highlighted that the super speciality block at SNMC is constructed in an area of 7,890 sq. metres at a cost of Rs 200 crores.

He stated that the facility in SNMC will cater to around three crore people in not only Agra but also 11 districts and two surrounding states.

Mandaviya said that the super speciality block at SNMC will include services like neurosurgery, neurology, gastroenterology, gastro surgery, urology, nephrology, cardiology etc.

He also laid the foundation stone for 23 integrated public health labs, and 87 block public health units in Agra on the same day.

Mandaviya also said that the Narendra Modi government has taken several landmark initiatives to increase the healthcare workforce as well as to improve and expand healthcare infrastructure in the country.

Through a video message, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath lauded the organ donation initiative. ”Donating one organ can give a new lease of life to another person,” he said.

The health ministry on Sunday will introduce the ‘Ayushman Bhav’ campaign – to ensure optimum delivery of health schemes to every intended beneficiary, including those in the last mile – during the ‘Seva Pakhwada’ starting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on September 17. The campaign will end on October 2. It will have three components Ayushman Apke Dwar 3.0, Ayushman Melas at Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Ayushman Sabhas in every village and panchayat.