Organ donationThe 1994 Human Organ Transplantation Act clearly defines a protocol for handling 'brain-death' in hospitals and allowed cornea collection after home deaths. This was enough for any hospital to boost organ retrieval services for the entire range of transplantable human tissue like corneas, heart valves, kidney, livers, etc.
But yet we find that life-saving kidneys and livers are still in acute short supply. But in the past 17 years, some organ banks working in government hospitals have demonstrated record-setting successes in motivating donors' relatives to offer corneas and skin. NGOs like 'Sunday Friends' in Sion, Mumbai have also learnt to give critical post-death counselling support.
The Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika's Sion Hospital which operates India's largest trauma ward have shown that an annual collection of over 200 corneas, a hundred skin donations (for burns victims) and an encouraging number of kidneys and livers is possible
We need organ donation-minded citizen to help out organ-needy unfortunate. Many people who lost loved ones in wards of government hospitals have been increasingly generous in the matter of organ-donation since they understand the value of such type of donation.
But there are some hospitals which remain laggards in introducing organ retrieval procedures. For transplantable human tissue, they largely restrict themselves to collecting blood and using kidneys from live donors with the attendant opportunistic possibility for illegal sourcing/ Organ retrieval and transplant services for the public do not involve any frontier technologies or significant additional capital or labour costs/ All they need is good hospital management.
The new modified Act relating to organ donation has been passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and awaits the president's signature/ It tries to nudge hospital managements into moving towards wider cadaver organ retrieval services and includes stricter punitive measures for illegal transactions. Skin and other 'tissue' are included in the Act.
Standards for dedicated 'Transplant Coordinators' and post-death counselling services in hospitals are on the way. And active government initiative and involvement is promised to replicate ethical transparent organ distribution networks. Let’s hope that this will be enough for a big leap in transplantable cadaver kidneys and livers over the next few years
If the government really means business, it should make policies to encourage organ donation in a big way. Changing the mindsets of doctors and hospital managers is needed. The attitude of the general public in this matter should be changed. The government should spend money to educate the public to donate organs. In fact, the Indian public is ready and has always been ready to donate organs after death in significant numbers.
But yet we find that life-saving kidneys and livers are still in acute short supply. But in the past 17 years, some organ banks working in government hospitals have demonstrated record-setting successes in motivating donors' relatives to offer corneas and skin. NGOs like 'Sunday Friends' in Sion, Mumbai have also learnt to give critical post-death counselling support.
The Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika's Sion Hospital which operates India's largest trauma ward have shown that an annual collection of over 200 corneas, a hundred skin donations (for burns victims) and an encouraging number of kidneys and livers is possible
We need organ donation-minded citizen to help out organ-needy unfortunate. Many people who lost loved ones in wards of government hospitals have been increasingly generous in the matter of organ-donation since they understand the value of such type of donation.
But there are some hospitals which remain laggards in introducing organ retrieval procedures. For transplantable human tissue, they largely restrict themselves to collecting blood and using kidneys from live donors with the attendant opportunistic possibility for illegal sourcing/ Organ retrieval and transplant services for the public do not involve any frontier technologies or significant additional capital or labour costs/ All they need is good hospital management.
The new modified Act relating to organ donation has been passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and awaits the president's signature/ It tries to nudge hospital managements into moving towards wider cadaver organ retrieval services and includes stricter punitive measures for illegal transactions. Skin and other 'tissue' are included in the Act.
Standards for dedicated 'Transplant Coordinators' and post-death counselling services in hospitals are on the way. And active government initiative and involvement is promised to replicate ethical transparent organ distribution networks. Let’s hope that this will be enough for a big leap in transplantable cadaver kidneys and livers over the next few years
If the government really means business, it should make policies to encourage organ donation in a big way. Changing the mindsets of doctors and hospital managers is needed. The attitude of the general public in this matter should be changed. The government should spend money to educate the public to donate organs. In fact, the Indian public is ready and has always been ready to donate organs after death in significant numbers.
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