Despite the fact that the country has come so far in terms of organ donations over the past few years, religious beliefs continue to serve as a barrier, preventing a large population from coming forward for donation.
The mid-term review meeting of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation aims to come up with guidelines for South Asia. The guidelines will be on the lines of those developed by the Amsterdam Forum in 2004, according to Society chairman Georgi Abraham.
Tamil Nadu has been recognised for its efforts in organ donation. Even so, the demand supply gap continues to be enormous. On this World Kidney Day, nephrologists urge for increased awareness among doctors and hospitals on the need for the state to see one donation a day as against the current rate
MOHAN Foundation, in collaboration with Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCK) and Aster CMI hospita,l has organised a five-day transplant coordinators’ training course and certification workshop under the aegis of the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) in Bengaluru from February 13.
India’s organ donation rate at 0.34 per million is among the lowest in the world and nationally with a population of 1.2 billion, the statistic stands at 0.08 % as organ donors per million population.
Santosh Sorate was getting desperate. He had been calling Madhukar Thakur, an autorickshaw driver from Kharghar, Navi Mumbai since 8pm — it was almost midnight now. A heart was available and Thakur, 44, who has been on the waiting list for a month was a match according to the records maintained by the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC).
Death has become a commodity. That was the considered opinion of a participant at a conference on bioethics in Pune on the weekend. As many medical professionals have observed, there is an increasing trend in modern medicine of postponing death with the help of artificial life support.
The ‘Donor’ scene is picking up in the country with at least 13 lakh persons pledging organs last year. However, the demand for new organs is also rising and there is a need to bridge this gap.
Half a decade ago, the total number of organs donated for transplantation in unified Andhra Pradesh used to hover anywhere between 80 and 90 every year. The long wait for desperate patients needing donor organs was unending, as the flow of donor organs was few and far between.
A week-long sensitisation programme for over 850 staff of the Government Rajaji Hospital, conducted by the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) and Mohan Foundation, is reaping rich dividends.
