Organ Donation

The deliberation on life after death is never ending however, the Human experience continues beyond the grave. A transplant means second chance to live. By donating organs after death, one can save or improve as many as 50 lives.

Each year, hundreds of people die while waiting for an organ transplant. In Telangana there are almost 2924 registered recipients for organs.There is a shortage of organs and the gap between the number of organs donated and the number of people waiting for a transplant is widening.

Spain has been acknowledged as leader in donations for number of years with 35.3 donors for 10lakhs. Some of the difference in rate of donations is due to an opt-out versus opt-in policy. The opt-out policy is any citizen is considered as a donor unless one makes an effort to opt out of the donation system. However, India follows the opt-in policy where one needs to be registered as an organ donor. Furthermore, consent from family members or next-of-kin is required for organ donation. Latest entrant to the opt-out policy is France as of 1 Jan,2017, thus making its population as organ donors.

Telangana state with 3.5crore population so far had only 289 organ donors who gave lives to more than 1000 people through Telangana’s Jeevandan programme .Telangana’s death toll from road accidents has been going up each year, and the increase in organ donors can be attributed to it. In the year 2016, 106 people have donated organs which is a record number ever.

Deceases due to cardiac arrest or heart failure render organs unfit for donation while the organs of a person declared brain dead can give someone a new life. More than 90 percent of brain deaths occur in road accidents and thus they contribute more for organ donation.

A transplant coordinator explains that road accident victims comprise most of those declared brain dead, that are eligible for transplant. The transplant coordinators face difficult in counselling the family of the victims. Registering as a donor in advance and keeping the family informed would be very helpful.

Registering as an organ donor can be done at the drop of a hat. Individuals can access the registration form by accessing the link http://jeevandan.gov.in/dynjeev/DonorCard.aspx. One would need to fill out details and in couple of mouse clicks, one can become a registered organ donor.

Here are myths about organ donation

All the above myths need to be busted, subsequently the celebrities have been asking their fans to participate in organ donation. A growing concern is that the response from the Muslim community is faint, although Jeevandan authorities donated organs like kidneys and liver to as many as 39 patients from the community. Awareness needs to be created in these communities that organ donation is not a tragedy but it is the ability to give someone life.Potential organ donors are slipping away and with them sink the hopes of countless people and families.

After the organ is transplanted, the recipient needs to take care of themselves which might increase the expenditure and the leaders have already expressed the concern. However, the government has been providing medicine for organ transplant patients and it has recently released five crore rupees of the ten crore budget.
The State government has initiated steps to provide modern machinery and equipment to State-run medical institutions such as Osmania General Hospital for performing live organ transplantation.

Health Minister C. Lakshma Reddy told the Legislative Assembly that organ transplants areefficaciously performed at Osmania, Gandhi and Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences. He urged the MLAs to educate peopleabout the significance of organ donation.