What is Organ Donation?

Organ donation is the process of removing an organ from one person and placing it in another person through surgery. Many organs can be donated, which include the liver, kidney, pancreas, and heart.

What organs and tissues can be transplanted?

Organs and tissues which can be transplanted include:

1. Liver
2. Kidney
3. Pancreas
4. Heart
5. Lung
6. Intestine
7. Cornea
8. Middle ear
9. Skin
10. Bone
11. Bone marrow
12. Heart valves
13. Connective tissue
14. Vascularized composite allografts 

What are the Different Types of Organ Donation?

In organ donation, a person pledges that after death certain or all organs from the body can be used for transplantation to help ill patients get a new life. People of all ages can donate organs, even people in their 80s have donated organs in the past. 

Living Donation: In living donation, a living person donates an organ for transplantation to another person. A living donor can be a family member or any relative.

Deceased Cadaver Donation: For this, the patient has to register in a hospital that does transplants. The patient will be put on a waitlist, and when the organ from an appropriate deceased donor is available, the patient will be informed.

Lack of Organ Donation In India

Around 5 lakh people die in India every year due to unavailability of organs. Nearly 2.2 lakh people await kidney transplant, of which around 15,000 end up receiving a kidney. Around 1 lakh people die of liver diseases every year in India, and only 1000 get a liver transplant.

Why Organ Donations Lags in India?

Here are five reasons why organ donation lags in India:

Lack of family consent

When a person is brain dead it is a difficulty for the family to accept the death as the heart continues to beat initially. But brain death is irreversible even if the organs continue to function, which is why doctors ask the family of the deceased to donate the organs and save someone’s life.

Superstitions and Misconceptions

There are myths like “if I donate my organs I may be born without a kidney or liver in my next birth”, “Organ donation is expensive” which prevent people from pledging their organs. 

Some people don’t donate organs as they will have to bear the cost until the organ is harvested in another person’s body.

Lack of education and awareness

Lack of awareness, lack of proper education to the relatives of a brain dead patient, organ donor cards, the process of organ donation makes it difficult for the patient and patient family to donate organs. Even some of the doctors are also not fully aware of the process of organ donation and things related to it which makes it difficult for the family of a deceased person to make a proper decision.

Lack of Brain Death Declaration

In many hospitals, doctors lack knowledge about brain death and keep the patient on a ventilator for as long as it is possible. Many cases of brain death occur in government hospitals where brain death declaration is low rather negligible.

Lack of Organ transplant and retrieval centres

Not all hospitals in India can carry out the process of organ transplantation and retrieval. In India, only 301 hospitals are equipped to handle the process; only 250 have registered with NOTTO. In India, there are only 5 Regional Organ, and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) and 6 State organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) are in the proposal state.