BENGALURU: Today, BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals at the Kengeri unit welcomed & felicitated Pramod Laxman Mahajan, a 67-year-old farmer from Maharashtra, on a massive bike expedition to create awareness on organ donation across India. BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital in association with Jeevasarthakathe escorted the biker from Bidadi and felicitated him for his noble initiative. After an inspiring speech about the importance of organ donation, Pramod was congratulated and wished for his journey ahead by Mrs. Shailaja Suresh, CEO, BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals and Dr Kishore Phadke, Convenor, Jeevasarthakathe.
A native of Sangli, Maharashtra, Pramod Mahajan on October 21, 2018 started the drive on his two wheeler bike from Shanirwada, Pune and today after 83 days, has reached Bangalore riding through Mumbai, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Jaipur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Meerut, Lucknow, Allahabad, Patna, Kolkata, Sambhalpur, Nagpur, Raipur, Bhopal, Indore, Aurangabad, Solapur, Hyderabad, Chennai, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Kochi, Mysore, etc. He rides a distance of 100 kms every day to cover over 10,000km in 100 days, and hopes to end his ride on January 26, 2019 covering over 18 states.
Pramod Mahajan himself has donated one of his kidneys 18 years ago saving a life of an army jawan, which encouraged him to start a 10,000 km expedition; PAN India drive called “Bharat organ yatra”. He is also an active volunteer at Rebirth Foundation.
Pramod Mahajan while addressing the audience said, “The reason behind initiating the campaign is due to lack of awareness and misconception regarding organ donation among people across the world. This has certainly hampered the process of getting organs for the people who are in need. Being a donor myself, gave me courage to spread the word and educate people about the importance of organ donation and inspire people to pledge their organs to save lives”
Dr Kishore Phadke Convenor, Jeevasarthakathe says “We feel proud to support the cause behind Mr Pramod’s nationwide organ drive. It is important for every individual and organizations to join hands and work towards spreading awareness and busting myths regarding organ donation. We would like to congratulate Pramod for his dedication and passion towards inspiring people all over the world to donate their organs”
Shailaja Suresh, CEO, BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals says, “Organ donation in India has been experiencing a major down side and around 5 lakh people die every year due to unavailability of organs. Lack of knowledge, infrastructure and awareness are the key reasons behind the shortage of organs in India. Similar campaigns driven by Mr Pramod may encourage people to take this issue to the forefront and will bring special attention to maximising donation from deceased and living donors to save the lives of millions of people”
Gleneagles Global Hospitals, Bengaluru is one of the foremost and successful centres for organ transplantation. Expertise is particularly strong in the areas of heart, kidney, liver and lung transplantation. It is the first hospital in India to perform combined Kidney & Heart transplantations.
