Gift life, it’s the greatest karma

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Gift life, it’s the greatest karma

Friday, 05 April 2019 | Shreya Garg

Gift life, it’s the greatest karma

Given the poor organ donation rate in our country, it’s high time citizens, Governments as well as various communities take the moral responsibility and ensure that myths are busted and precious lives saved

People waiting for life-saving organ transplants are a common sight in India, their numbers far outweighing donors. Imagine if there were enough organ saviours, that many more lives could have been saved and they would have contributed positively to the country’s economy. And yet with a bit of awareness, we could spare a bit of our bodies to revive the suffering. World religions have seen organ donation as our attempt at good karma. What else could have prompted the oldest altruistic living organ donor, an 85-year-old woman in Britain, who donated her kidney to a stranger in 2014 after hearing how many people needed to receive a transplant?

Expecting the Government or various organisations to take the burden of improving life expectancy and well-being of the people while not doing our bit is unfair to humanity.  Thanks to science and technology, transplantation of human organs has become a mature and safe process today. Living donors can resume their ordinary lives.

As per statistics, nearly five lakh people in India lose out on their lives due to organ failure. Also, the waiting time period for transplant at AIIMS, Delhi, is eight months. Though we have a population of almost 1.3 billion people, only 0.08 persons per million offer to be organ donors. Despite the willingness shown, deceased donor donation rate in our country is abysmally low when compared to other developed countries like the US. Countries which have registered great success in organ donation mostly follow the “opt-out” or tacit consent method. This means that people must expressly indicate that they do not wish to donate. And if they do not, it is taken that they are willing. Countries such as the UK, Germany and Netherlands are examples where the number of donors has grown explicitly due to the “opt-out” policy.

India follows the “opt-in” framework under which organs can be transplanted only after receiving the person’s consent. The other reality is that organs do not go to those who need them the most but ones who can pay for it.

Certainly, there are quite a few organisations who have been working towards the cause of organ donation. Their mission is to ensure that every Indian, who is suffering from an end-stage organ failure, be provided with the “gift of life” through a life-saving organ.  Realise the beauty and power of this act. Anyone, regardless of age, caste, religion or colour can pledge to be a donor. If a person below the age of 18 wishes to donate, all he needs is a consent from either a parent or a guardian. The only deciding factor is the health of the organ one wishes to pledge.

There are fundamentally two types of organ donation — the living and the deceased. Living donors can potentially donate one of the two kidneys, one of the two lobes of their liver and a lung or a part of it, part of the pancreas or part of the intestines. It is truly altruistic and magnanimous of someone to become a living donor but one should take into account one’s health and any unforeseen health complication.

The most prevalent one is deceased person organ donation but  most relatives fear this practice would disfigure their loved one. No such thing happens and, in fact, the   departed leaves behind a legacy of good deeds. Apprehensions ranging from socio-cultural factors, superstitious beliefs, cost-laden procedure and mutilation of body among others  are all unfounded to say the least. Except the superstitious factors, all others have been negated by organisations and doctors working for the cause of organ donation.

Even in the case of individuals who have given consent for donation after death, the influences of the familial members might change the actual decision. It is here that the involvement of other stakeholders, non-governmental organisations and religious leaders would help in imparting awareness and knowledge and in changing the attitude of the general public towards deceased organ donation. Ultimately, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) needs to be strengthened so that it may play a central role in coordinating the activities of deceased organ donation

As many as 1.47 lakh people died on Indian roads in 4.64 lakh accidents reported during 2017, as per a report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Had even five to 10 per cent of these served as organ donors, we wouldn’t have had a shortage.

Several initiatives to encourage deceased organ donation include the Indian Network for Organ Sharing, a sub-division of NOTTO, the Transplantation of Human Organ Act (THOA), as well as the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissue Rules. There are stringent criteria instituted for the retrieval, preservation and transportation of donor organs. Organ donation has changed lives and will change many more if there’s the will to do something for our compatriots. It’s a blessing for both the donor and the recipient.

(The writer is a freelancer)

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