Walkathon to spread ‘skin’ lesson

While there is a demand for 3,000 skin donations every year to treat burns’ victims, 81 donations have been made at the Victoria Hospital’s skin bank since its inception in March 2016.

The Victoria Hospital, in association with the Rotary Bangalore Midtown, is running a skin bank. Each year, the hospital sees about 1,000 burns victims. According to the doctors, to treat one severe burns victim, skin from three donors is needed.

To create awareness about skin donation, the Rotary Bangalore Midtown, in association with Prestige Group and Ashirvad Pipes, has organised a 5 km walkathon on June 9 from St. Joseph’s Indian High School ground at 6.30 am.

One of India’s bravehearts, Laxmi Agarwal, an acid attack survivor, will participate. Laxmi is associated with the Rotary Bangalore Midtown as the official Cause Ambassador for skin donation.

Laxmi will educate citizens about skin donation through her journey, the organisers said. Having put her story in a light, the association hopes to encourage citizens to pledge their skin for donation.

Namratha Bhatia, Rotarian and a fashion designer, told DH that the walkathon aims to motivate people to come forward for donation.

“We have been interacting with the walkers at Cubbon Park. We understand that very few people know that skin is donatable. We have facilities at the Victoria Hospital, and it is important for people to be aware of it,” Namratha said.

In India, there are 70 lakh cases of burns annually, of which 7 lakh require hospital admission and 1.4 lakh are fatal. Of them, 90,000 are women. Burn victims require special care and treatment including counselling.