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Organmeetings: A grand chain of life is being created

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The new educational program on organ donation and transplant has completed its first year of successful outreach and engagement, attracting more than 1,200 participants to its first three webinars. Tune in for the two upcoming Organmeetings on April 24 and June 26, 2024.

Photo: Pinelopi Gerasimou

The program started in 2023, with the participants in the Organmeetings exceeding 1,200. As of then, this life appointment takes place three times a year. In March, May, and December of 2023, employees from large and small companies, members of organizations and associations with a social contribution, and professionals in healthcare organizations and units joined the grand awareness-raising chain of Organmeetings by attending one of the three webinars implemented by the Onassis Foundation, under the scientific auspices of the Hellenic Transplant Organization and with the support of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center.

Who could donate organs for transplant? What is brain death, and how does it differ from coma? How are suitable recipients selected for each organ, and how is this done equitably? How can I obtain an organ donor card? What is organ trafficking, and why is it not happening in Greece and Europe? Reasonable questions that emerge when the discussion turns to organ donation, as well as stereotypes that are still reproduced erroneously, become the subject of an enlightening presentation and find their answers through the Organmeetings seminars. The awareness-raising program has successfully completed its first year of dynamic operation and now continues with the same vigor in 2024.

Participation application form

The first two seminar dates for this year are Wednesday, April 24 (15:00), and Wednesday, June 26 (15:00). All interested parties may fill out the relative registration form.

Each online meeting will last approximately one and a half hours. Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

The form can only be filled out by executives who have the capacity to organize collective actions, such as activating employee or member participation, based on their role and status (for example, HR Manager, Marketing Manager, President or Secretary of the Association, etc.). Companies and enterprises that wish to align their CSR policies with raising awareness around organ donation and transplant, as well as news media, institutions, private or public organizations, and associations with social benefit work, may now participate in Organmeetings, the program where knowledge and information converge for a second chance at life. You can find the 2023–2024 vital links here. We thank them wholeheartedly and hope they will continue to support the great national effort to develop organ donation in Greece. Understanding the value of organ donation is essential so that we all have the right to a second chance at life. It is not only an act of solidarity for our fellow humans but also an attitude toward life that, if we all adopt it, will benefit us, our relatives, and our loved ones.

The first digital guide in Greece around organ donation and transplantation

The driving force behind the Organmeetings is none other than the need to highlight the importance of proper education and information around the highly critical issue of organ transplant and donation. It is an issue that directly concerns us all. For this reason, the first digital guide in Greece around organ donation and transplantation was assembled, and you can now browse through its pages via the link.

This initiative reflects the commitment of the Onassis Foundation and the Hellenic Transplant Organization to promote awareness and proper information about organ donation and transplantion—arguably the miracle of medicine—saving thousands of lives worldwide and giving hope to our fellow human beings with irreversible organ failure.

Vital Links in the Chain of Life

The participation of a series of organizations and companies in the Organmeetings program solidifies their commitment to the principles and values of corporate social ethics and their will to contribute to strengthening public health. By offering their people sound and scientifically proven information about organ transplant and donation, all implicated bodies become links in the resulting chain of life, establishing with their actions that their unconditional social contribution carries an exceptional value and gravity beyond their purely entrepreneurial and financial activities,

Companies, bodies, and other parties participating in Organmeetings will be certified by the Hellenic Transplant Organization and included in the official list of supporters and allies of this awareness campaign, accompanied by program mementos they can share with the attendees. The certificate is valid for two years.

You can find the 2023–2024 vital links here. We thank them wholeheartedly and hope they will continue to support the great national effort to develop organ donation in Greece. Understanding the value of organ donation is essential so that we all have the right to a second chance at life. It is not only an act of solidarity for our fellow humans but also an attitude toward life that, if we all adopt it, will benefit us, our relatives, and our loved ones.

Photo: Pinelopi Gerasimou

Questions and answers regarding the program

Is there any limit to the number of employees or members who can participate in the program?

No, there is no minimum or maximum limit of participations. For example, participation is open to all companies, either they employ 100 or 10 people and to all associations, regardless of whether they have 3 or 40 members. In any case however, the participation should be collective and not on an individual basis. Certifications will be valid and provided to all participants, no matter how minimum their participation is.

Are the webinars offered exclusively online or they can also take place at the premises of each body, company etc.?

They are offered only online. Our goal is the various bodies, associations, companies etc. to join their forces online creating a big chain of hope and solidarity.

Is it possible for a company or an entity to participate in the webinar for a second time, with different participants/members?

Of course, provided that the first webinar should be over before registering again.

For more information or questions regarding the program, please contact info@eom.gr and mediaoffice-health@onassis.org, listing Organmeetings as a subject.

Organmeetings is an innovative program developed under the scientific guidance of the Hellenic Transplant Organization (HTO), with the collaboration of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center (OCSC), within the framework of the National Initiative on Organ Donation and Transplantation undertaken and implemented by the Onassis Foundation.

We become links in the chain of life.

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