Enhance Lives through Tissue donation – Tissue Banking Workshop in Jaipur

MOHAN Foundation and Navjeevan-MFJCF team hosted an International Tissue Banking Workshop in Jaipur on Monday, 28 November 2016.  Looking into the need for Tissue Banking in Rajasthan, the workshop addressed all the queries related to establishment, processing and maintaining standards of a Tissue Bank.  48 doctors and others attended the workshop held on 28^th November to celebrate  National Organ Donation Day.

The Workshop was inaugurated by Dr. U. S. Agrawal, Principal SMS Medical College and Affiliated Hospitals. Honourable Health Minister Mr. Rajendra Singh Rathore sent his best wishes for the programme as he was in his constituency and unable to attend.  After the traditional lighting of the Lamp, Ms. Bhavna Jagwani, Convener, Navjeevan, welcomed the esteemed guests and the panelists.  Representatives from all the Stakeholder Hospitals, eminent doctors, Rotarians, Navjeevan Members and Social Activists attended the Tissue Banking Workshop.

The panel was led by Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation. In the panel were

• Dr. Akila Chandrasekar, Consultant in Transfusion Medicine in NHSBT, Fellow of Royal College of Pathologists, past Chair of the British Association for Tissue Banking Clinical Special Interest Group from 2006-2009 and member Specialist advisory Committee for Care and Selection of Donors in 2010.
• Dr. Ajoy SM, Dip in Tissue Banking (Barcelona), Department of Orthopaedics, M S Ramaiah Medical College and Hospitals. He has keen interest in the new field of Tissue Banking and is associated with the M S Ramaiah Tissue Bank (the only tissue bank in Karnataka) as its Coordinator and Quality Control Officer since its inception in 2012. He has the unique advantage of harvesting bone grafts, processing it and using it and is also popularising its usage among Orthopaedic Surgeons across India.
• Dr. Swati Tomar, Medical Director, Eye Bank Society of Rajasthan, Eye Specialist and Cornea Surgeon trained from L V Prasad Eye Institute Hyderabad. She is the first female surgeon in the state of Rajasthan for doing maximum corneal transplants and giving sight to people. She is a member of the Corneal surgeons Task force of Sight Life USA. She trains eye surgeons in India and Abroad in corneal surgeries.

The Workshop started with a presentation by Dr. Sunil Shroff on Organ Donation & Tissue Banking- Overview. Dr. Shroff in his unique teaching style reached out to one and all as he set out the parameters and the need for a Tissue Bank in Rajasthan at this stage of the Organ and Tissue Donation Development Programme.

Dr. Akila Chandrasekar presented a detailed talk, supported by videos and ppt on the Requirements to Establish Tissue bank. This was followed by a question and answer session.

Dr. G. S. Kalra and Dr. Arun Mathur chaired the session on Skin Banking which started with the input on the need of a Skin Bank and how it can change the lives of lakhs of people. The next segment was a short video on Skin Banking by Dr. Sunil Keswani, Mumbai which was again followed by a Q&A session wherein Dr. Kalra, and Dr. Shroff answered the points and queries raised by the audience.

After a short tea break Bone Banking took the centre stage in the able hands of Dr. Ajoy SM, a session chaired by Dr. Ashish Sharma leading Orthopaedic surgeon from Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital, Jaipur.  Dr. Ajoy explained about bone transplants and live donations of bones. The session once again ended with a barrage of queries from the audience.

Eye Donation & Banking in Rajasthan session was chaired by Dr. Rahul Sharda and Dr. Mukesh Sharma. Dr. Swati Tomar used video and audio visual aids to chart the journey of corneal donation in Rajasthan.

Dr. Akila Chandrasekar took up the last topic of the day- Tissue processing & Maintaining Standards. As she explained in detail about the importance of quality control and maintenance of the Tissues at every single stage, one could see doctors soaking up the details.

The Panel Discussion – Establishing a State of Art Tissue banking in Rajasthan – was vibrant and interactive as the panelists were bombarded with queries, each of which was answered in detail by the concerned panelist.  The entire programme was ably conducted by Dr. Manish Sharma, Nodal Officer, Organ Donation Programme, Rajasthan.

All the major media houses covered the Workshop and said that they found it very educational and informative. The workshop was held at Sarovar Portico Hotel in Jaipur and ended with a Vote of Thanks by Mr. Ravi Kamra, Member, Navjeevan.