QR code helps 500 youths promise organs in slack year for donations

Pune: More youths are responding to organ donation by filing the QR code-based pledge, officials from the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), the apex organization that oversees the allocation of donated organs, said on Wednesday.

The organization developed the QR code to reach out to people during the pandemic, spread awareness, and meet the huge gap in demand and supply. Prior to the pandemic, the ZTCC would register an average of 500 pledges every year.

The number dropped to 50 pledges during the pandemic. But now, the number of donors filing the pledge has slowly started picking up ever since the ZTCC launched the QR code this June.

“We have recorded 500 pledges ever since we launched the QR Code-based online organ donation pledge on June 21. The response from young people is growing,” liver transplant physician and secretary of Pune region ZTCC Sheetal Dhadphale Mahajani said.

Residents from rural parts of Pune have also responded to the initiative. “Residents of Dhalewadi village in Purandar taluka have collectively pledged their organs using the QR code,” Aarti Gokhale, transplant coordinator, ZTCC Pune branch, said.

By pledging, there is no force to donate organs. But when a person pledges, he talks about it to his family. This way, the family knows about organ donation, and at the time of death, they can make a decision easily, she added.

“We hope to increase donor base through the QR code,” Gokhale said.