Organ donation is an unquantifiable gift given to an individual in need out of a real desire to help.
All of us should consider themselves potential organ and tissue donors. No one is just too old or too young to be a deceased donor—regardless of age, health, race, or ethnicity.
Hence, Dr Mahesh Kotbagi, Director Rotary International has answered some common questions on organ donation:
Q. How evolved is organ donation in India vis-a-vis globally.
India ranks second to the United States in terms of performing largest number of transplants in the world. However, there remains a huge gap between those requiring the transplants and the actual number of organs available to be donated, due to lack of awareness, ignorance, and access to appropriate organ donors and proper medical facilities.
As per the latest estimates, India’s Organ Donation Rate is only 0.65 per million population (PMP) which calls for enhanced awareness about organ donation so that more people voluntarily pledge to donate.
The Government of India has recognized the need to create more awareness around organ donation and therefore has set up National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) to address the national demand. Similarly, Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) and Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (ROTTO) have been set up to address the issue at a regional level.
Q. Does India have an organ donation registry. What kind of organ donations are successful in India?
Living and deceased donation are the two types of organ donation. As per the Indian legislation, the donor and their families must agree for donating an organ. In case of a deceased donor, the consent of immediate family member is required to donate organs. In India the registry is only for pledges and consent. Rotary Club of Pune Gandhi Bhavan, D 3131 holds a Guinness Record for making a record number of people sign up for the cause of organ donation from across 950 cities in 2018.
Kidney donation is the most popular donation in India, followed by a liver transplants. While heart and lung transplants are opted by a very few in the country. Rotary Club of Hyderabad has also been instrumental in setting up a first-of-its-kind skin bank in the state of Telangana to aid burn and trauma patients.
Q. How many people are willing to donate. What are government and private players’ interventions in helping organ donations in India?
Currently, there is no data to measure the success rate of organ donations in India. There remains a huge disparity between demand and supply. However, with increased awareness, we can expect a larger population to donate. Currently, 30 per million population are willing to donate.
The Government of India passed the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA), in 1994, which aims at regulation of transplantation of human organs for therapeutic and commercial purposes. The act was later amended in 2011 to address the inadequacies in the relevance of the act.
On other hand, non-profit organizations like Rotary are actively working to raise awareness and simplify the process at the state level.
Q. How is the regulatory and legal scenario. How many organ donations are done and need to be done?
In the last two decades, central and state governments have taken several initiatives to ensure organ donation is regulated. THOA was passed in 1994 which revolutionized the concept of organ donation after death. When cases of commercial dealing and malpractices were reported in India, states like Goa, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal proposed an amendment to reduce the inadequacies of the law and improve its impact. The amendment to the Act was then passed in the parliament in 2011.
Q. What is the screening process and approval process. Who are the stakeholders and how transparent is organ donation in India?
The process of pledging to donate is quite simple. But if a patient wants to go for an organ transplant, which is, in 90% cases done by kin or a close friend, there are many stakeholders involved. The patient and the donor will have to seek consent form magistrate, police, making the whole system and process very tedious. ZTCC, ROTTO & NOTTO are authorised and have a very transparent system that one can go for.
Q. How much of the population in India is willing to donate?
In India only 0.01% of population has shown willingness for organ donation and to give the consent for organ donation, the percentage is different from the percentage of people donating when required. There is a lot of work still required in this area.