Editor, Goemkarponn
AERIAL VIEW
Dean Dr S M Bandekar said that the organs have already been successfully transplanted. The boy’s heart was allocated to a 51-year-old woman at H N Reliance Hospital, Mumbai, and the liver to a 47-year-old man at CIMS Hospital, Ahmedabad, by Rotto-Sotto, Mumbai.
Nearly half a million people die annually in India due to unavailability of organs.
Experts insist that there are several accidents every day in Goa, yet the parents and families are not ready for organ donation due to several factors.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
On Sunday, a brain-dead youth saved the lives of four persons in three cities after his family agreed to the donation of his organs. More importantly, they accepted, he was brain-dead – a fact that many families do not want to accept in India.
The 19-year-old youths’ kidneys were donated to GMC, while the heart and liver were transported to Mumbai and Ahmedabad after Goa Police created a green corridor.
The news was broken on social media by SP North Nidhin Valsan, who praised the GMC docs, Goa Police team and the SOTTO director for excellent coordination for transportation.
Dean Dr S M Bandekar said that the organs have already been successfully transplanted. The boy’s heart was allocated to a 51-year-old woman at H N Reliance Hospital, Mumbai, and the liver to a 47-year-old man at CIMS Hospital, Ahmedabad, by Rotto-Sotto, Mumbai.
Nearly half a million people die annually in India due to unavailability of organs.
Experts insist that there are several accidents every day in Goa, yet the parents and families are not ready for organ donation due to several factors.
Through organ donation, one person can save up to 7 lives. Also, a person can donate 50 tissues. Out of 301 hospitals equipped to handle the process, only 250 have registered with National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO). This means to conduct an organ transplant, there exists one fully equipped hospital for around 43 lakh people. Currently, in India, there are only 5 Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisations (ROTTO), and 6 State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisations (SOTTO) are being planned.
Nearly 2.2 lakh people await kidney transplants, of which around 15,000 end up receiving a kidney. At a given point in time, about 1 lakh people die of liver diseases in India, and only 1,000 get a liver transplant. A cadaver or deceased donor can save up to 9 lives, but despite this, organ donation is a neglected issue.
The most common reasons cited for not wanting to donate organs were mistrust (of doctors, hospitals, and the organ allocation system), a belief in a black market for organs in the United States, and deservingness issues (that one’s organs would go to someone who brought on his or her own illness, or who could be a “bad person”). One of the most surprising findings is that religion is offered far more often as a rationale for wanting to help sick people through organ donation than it was for not wanting to donate organs. These findings both support and contradict past studies based on quantitative survey data. Implications for the construction of more effective future organ donor campaigns are discussed.
But organ donation saves lives and is the only hope for many desperately ill people in this city and elsewhere. There are people across the city who are alive today thanks to organ donation. They are alive because grieving relatives – in their darkest moments – selflessly agreed to help families also facing the prospect of losing a loved one.
The selfless actions of those courageous families should not be underestimated. They are true heroes.
