ORGAN DONATION DAY (13th August)

ORGAN DONATION DAY

(13^th  August’ 2014)

The need for organ transplants is increasing worldwide. Organ donation is one of the noblest deed an individual can accomplish. The on-going lack of available organs has resulted in an increase in the number of patients on the waiting list. Each day approximately five lakh people die in India alone every year awaiting for organ donors for a transplant. Only 3% of the patients waiting for a kidney transplant actually get one, whereas approximately one lakh people are always waiting for corneal transplant.

The idea behind this Day is to create an awareness amongst the people, to encourage debate and provide information on organ donation and transplantation, legal and medical measures so that each person can decide on donation and make their wishes known to their family.  It is also an opportunity to honour all organ donors and their families and to thank transplantation professionals whose hard work helps saving lives and improving the quality of life of many people.

Organ donation is a great deed as people after they're dead aren't really going to need their organs whereas someone living could get a second chance to live. No doubt it is a little difficult to come to terms with your loved one being cut open but still, the cause behind it is much more important and secondly you keep him alive in others body.

When a patient requires an organ transplant, the prayers from their family, friends and near ones come thick and thin, as if waiting for any divine intervention with an expectation of a miracle to take place. But the bitter truth is that we are a solution to their problems and an answer to their prayers. They need nothing expect an act of a man and such an act allows us to stake claim to immorality.

The Cost Factor

The challenge to get an organ transplant done doesn't end with finding a suitable liver or kidney from a living donor or cadaver. The cost disparity of such procedures is a great hindrance that is  equally daunting. A kidney transplant in a private hospital is beyond thought of a common man because its facilities itself cost at least three times more of what it does at a Government hospital and more over if the patient is not doing well and has an extended stay in the hospital for post - transplant treatment, then the stay tariffs of the ICU rooms in such kind if hospitals can push up the transplant bills by lakhs and that too depends on the duration of stay of the patient in the hospital. It is indeed very shameful that the poor should only think of such a treatment and see his loved one die in front of his own eyes as such a treatment is beyond his reach . In most of the areas of health care, transplant facilities have grown fast in the private sector whereas the public sector is still taking baby steps. 

The situation is grimmer when it comes to liver transplants, for it is much more expensive and riskier than a renal transplant. In major private hospitals surgery for liver transplant costs between Rs 18 lakh and Rs 25 lakh and that too with a promise that the operation shall be discounted to one-third of the actual the cost. Their programme is marred by a high mortality rate among recipients.  In many places liver transplants have come a long way from the time the surgery costing nearly Rs 40 lakh.

Who can donate?

Ø After Brain Death

Ø After a natural death

Ø After an accidental death

Ø Living person who is the first kin of the patient.

  

Organs that can be donated after death

Kidneys (2)                      Pancreas                        Liver

Lungs (2)                          Small intestines              Eyes

Pancreas                           Larynx                          Pancreas

Middle ear bone (2)           Uterus                          Ovaries

Take a pledge

The ground for organ donors is a gentle reminder to all of us that organ donation is a boon for the thousands of patients waiting endlessly for a saviour. While harvesting the organs of the brain dead is still a sensitive and emotional issue for families, it's time to go beyond grief and help those in need. A single deceased donor's organs such as liver, kidneys, intestine, pancreas, heart, lungs can potentially save the lives of nine others suffering from failure of their own organs. The authorities responsible should also make the process smooth for all parties concerned. 

Today being Organ Donation Day, we should all take a pledge to do our bit for those in dire straits. Those interested can pledge their organs with the respected organisations working for such a noble cause. 

Awareness about organ donation is very low worldwide as well as our country. It is surveyed that approx. 0.16 % per lakh Indians donated their organs in the previous year, while more than five lakh people have lost their lives due to shortage of organs. 

One single person can give life to eight persons after his death through organ donation. We should think beyond emotional issues and get rid of our various useless apprehensions with regard to organ donation to give life to so many people. One step forward shall encourage so many steps towards a noble cause.  

 “Let no organ be wasted” should be the motto of every single individual.   We should all join hands to give a hope to those thousands waiting for a fresh lease of life.

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