Why India lags in organ donation

Societal reservations lack of awareness and infrastructure are the major roadblocks for active organ donations in India according to health experts on Wednesday India faces the lowest organ donation rate worldwide with a mere 01 per cent of the population donating their organs after death in stark contrast to 7080 per cent in Western countriesCurrently there is a huge gap between patients who need organs and the actual organs available for transplantation The waiting list for kidneys and liver can go up to several years The heart and lung recipients are completely dependent on cadaveric organ donation programme hence it is imperative that we as a country pledge for this cause Rahul Pandit Chair Critical Care Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital Mumbai told IANSTraditionally two concepts have been practiced in India live related donation and cadaveric organ donation he explained Live related donation involves removing a healthy organ usually from recipients near relatives as described in the organ donation Act and transplanting it in the recipient However this practice is only limited to kidney and liver in solid organ transplantationCadaveric organ donation is organ donation after brain stem death This is possible in patients who have an irreversible neurological condition who are on a ventilator in ICU with no brain function This process if the family consents then almost 89 organs cornea heart lungs 2 kidneys liver pancreatic islets cells uterus both hands skin bone and muscle tendons can be donated the doctor saidWhile there has been a slight improvement in harvesting organs from deceased donors with an increase in the average number of transplants per donor it remains insufficient For example out of 12387 harvested organs in 2021 only slightly over 14 per cent were from deceased donors Yasir Rizvi Associate Director amp Senior Consultant Nephrology at Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital told IANSRajesh Aggarwal Chief and Sr Consultant Kidney Transplant amp Dialysis Department at Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute explained that myths surrounding brain death contribute to considerable organ wastage with India losing around 2 lakh kidneys and other vital organs annually Properly harvesting even 510 per cent of all brain deaths for organ donation could render the need for living donors obsolete The issue is particularly pronounced in heart transplants with challenges like cost and expertise availability in different cities exacerbating the problemIndia faces a critical challenge with a dismal organ donation rate of 086 per million people necessitating a drastic improvement Despite a notable postCovid resurgence in transplant activities achieving over 15000 transplants in 2022 with a 27 per cent annual increase societal reservations remain a significant obstacle The country grapples with a demandsupply gap in organ donation and transplants due to a lack of awareness and deeprooted superstitions Aggarwal told IANSRizvi also noted limited awareness and infrastructure as a significant challenge in organ donation in India Despite some progress there exists a substantial gap between organ demand and supply with only 01 per cent of the population donating their organs after death he said The situation demands urgent action given the organ shortage crisis in the country Public awareness campaigns are crucial to enhance organ donation rates and collaboration between the medical fraternity and policymakers is necessary to streamline donation processesEstablishing transparent organ registries and strengthening deceased organ donation infrastructure are pivotal steps for India to advance in organ donation and transplantation he said To boost organ donation practices the health experts called for a comprehensive approach Education campaigns can debunk myths and emphasise the impact of donations on saving lives they saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever