New Delhi: It was an action-packed Sunday morning in many cities across India, especially Gurugram where over 7000, people came forward to join actor Rajkummar Rao to help raise awareness about Organ Donation in India. The event was part of NDTV-Fortis More To Give Walkathon which was organised in 7-cities of Chennai, Bengaluru, Gurugram, Mumbai, Jaipur, Mohali and Kolkata to highlight the challenges facing India, as the country has one of the lowest organ donation rates in the world. The Gurugram (Gurgaon) leg, flagged off by Rajkummar Rao was a 7.5 kilometre stretch which started from Fortis Memorial Research Institute.
Watch: Rajkummar Rao Flags Off Organ Donation Walkathon In Gurugram
This year, NDTV-Fortis Organ Donation Walkathon saw enormous participation from people from all walks of life. The event saw 9 crore steps being contributed across different cities and online.
Currently, every year, nearly 4 lakh people in India are losing their lives waiting for an organ and only 2,500 transplants were made possible in 2017 with less than 1000 people donating organs. Each individual by donating organs can save up to 8 number of lives. To be an organ donor, fill up the pledge form for the organ donor card.
NDTV – Fortis More To Give campaign aims to promote organ donation and encourage Indians to take the pledge to be an organ donor. India has among the lowest rates of organ donation in the world at 0.5 donor per million population, which is far less compared to over 30 donors per million in some western countries. On an average, five lakh Indians die every year unable to get an organ transplant in time due to the shortage of organs. Every year on National Organ Donation Day on November 27, a Walkathon is organised across different cities of India to raise awareness, bust myths about organ donation and encourage people to become organ donors. Over the years, the campaign has gathered support from celebrities like actor Irrfan Khan, Swara Bhasker, Gul Panag and Former Indian Hockey Captain Sandeep Singh.