Organmeetings: Webinars starting in March 2023 and a guide for organ donation and transplantation

A new awareness program for adult citizens was launched on Wednesday, November 23rd, by the Onassis Foundation. Organmeetings is an innovative program developed under the scientific guidance of the National Transplant Organization (NTO) and with the collaboration of Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center (OCSC). It seeks to raise awareness and disseminate correct information regarding organ donation and transplantation, debunking at the same time myths and past stereotypes that still dominate the public sphere.

Media, institutions, bodies, public and private organizations, associations that engage in social projects, but also companies and enterprises that would like to link their CSR policy with raising awareness regarding organ donation and transplantation can now participate in Organmeetings: where knowledge and information help give life a second chance.

This innovative awareness program was presented at Onassis Stegi in an event which was attended by representatives from various sectors, such as health, business, media, local governments, sending thus the message that organ donation is an issue that concerns us all.

Both the Organmeetings guide and the participation form for the webinars can be found here. Registration is now open and the first two dates for 2023 are the following: 22 March and 24 May (at 15:00). The dates for the 2023-24 period will be announced by the Onassis Foundation and the NTO in summer 2023.

If you are an adult citizen representing a body, an organization, a medium, an association, a company or an enterprise, you can visit the Onassis Foundation web page and fill in the registration form. However, the form can be filled-in only by executives who can represent the above entities and organize actions such as awareness raising for the collective participation of their employees/members.

The participants are certified by the National Transplant Organization and included in the official list of supporters and allies of this awareness campaign.

Every hour 6 new patients are added in the national list for candidate recipients in Europe, while more than 6,500 patients die every year waiting for the longed-for transplant. The average waiting time for a kidney transplant in Greece is more than 8 years. They could be a family member, a loved one, ourselves.

The modern way of living, our diet, stress, smoking as well as other aggravating factors increase the need for solid organ transplantation even more. Do we know that it is a lot more likely for us to need a transplant during our lifetime due to organ failure than to become an organ donor after we die?

In order for all of us to enjoy the right to a second chance in life, it is important to understand the value of organ donation. It is not just a solidarity act for our fellow human beings, it is a mindset that, if adopted, the benefit will come back to us, to our family and to our loved ones.

The Organmeetings educational program wishes to shed light and dispel any myth, stereotype or misconception regarding this important yet unexplored issue. The comprehensive guide developed under the scientific guidance of the NTO will be the foundation for the adults' awareness raising program. Therefore, starting from January 2023, an ongoing communication channel with the citizens is launched in the form of webinars, which will be delivered by specialized NTO representatives and associates, supported by the Onassis Foundation. The main goal is to provide correct and responsible information to all interested parties and stakeholders, so that it is clear that organ donation really concerns us all.

The main points of the program were presented in detail at the Onassis Stegi. The President of the Onassis Foundation, Anthony S. Papadimitriou, the President of the National Transplant Organization, George Papatheodoridis, and the President of the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Ioannis N. Boletis, addressed the event. The attendees had the chance to experience the training provided by Organmeetings with the assistance of Yiouli Menoudakou, Head of Transplant Coordination Department of the National Transplant Organization, while the event was moderated by Alexandros Morellas, Health Program Manager of the Onassis Foundation.

Undoubtedly, the most touching moment during the event was the presence of Ioanna Sarri-Mpalasi, the mother who found the courage during the most difficult moments of her life to donate her 16-year-old daughter’s organs, when Nektaria was diagnosed brain dead. Ms. Mpalasi moved us all with the strength of her soul, setting an example for everyone as well as sending a loud and clear message in favor of organ donation.