Organ donations in India

What’s in today’s article?

• News Summary

 

Why in News?

• As per data shared in Parliament by the Union Health Ministry, after a dip in 2020 owing to the pandemic, organ donations picked up again in 2021 with 12,387 organs harvested from deceased as well as living donors.

 

News Summary

• After a fall during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, organ donation numbers bounced back in 2021.
• However, the number of deceased donations has remained lower than the number of donations from living persons.
  • Deceased donation - organs donated by the kin of those who suffered brain death or cardiac death.

 

Statistics of Organ Donation in India

Image Caption: Trend of Organ Donation in India

• Of the 12,387 organs — kidney, liver, heart, lungs, and pancreas among others — harvested in 2021, only 1,743 (a little more than 14%) were from deceased donors.
• The numbers harvested in 2021 were close to the highest in the last five years (12,746, in 2019).
• The numbers are skewed in favour of living donations — organs like kidney and liver donated by living family members.
• There is also a geographical skew in deceased donations.
  • All but two deceased organ donations in 2021 were in 15 states.
  • The top five — Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka — accounting for more than 85% of the total.
  • Two organs were harvested from a deceased donor in Goa.
  • One reason for the geographical skew could be that most organ transplant and harvesting centres are concentrated in these geographies.
• India has an organ donation rate of about 0.52 per million population.
  • In comparison, the organ donation rate in Spain, the highest in the world, is 49.6 per million population.

 

What is the need to increase deceased donations?

• Increased demand
  • There is a gap in the number of organs needed and the number of transplants that happen in the country.
    • In absolute numbers, India conducts the third highest number of transplants in the world.
    • Of the estimated 1.5-2 lakh persons who need a kidney transplant every year, only around 8,000 get one. And of the 10,000 who need a heart transplant, only 200 get it.
  • Demand is on the rise because of the increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases.
  • Besides, organs like heart and lungs can be retrieved only from deceased donors.
• Precious resources are wasted
  • Without deceased donations, a precious resource is wasted.
  • Nearly 1.5 lakh persons die in road traffic accidents every year in India, many of whom can ideally donate organs.

 

Regulatory framework for organ donation in India

• Legislation
  • In 1994, The Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA) was promulgated by the government of India.
  • The Transplantation of Human Organs Rules followed in 1995 and were last amended in 2014, increasing the scope of donation and including tissues for transplantation.
  • The act made commercialization of organs a punishable offence and legalized the concept of brain death in India allowing deceased donation by obtaining organs from brain stem dead person.
• Institution
  • National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) is a national level organization set up under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
  • Besides laying down policy guidelines and protocols for various functions, it coordinates all the activities associated with organ donation at national level.

 

What are the reasons for low organ donation rate in India?

• Existing system
  • In India a person has to register to be an organ donor and the family has to consent to it after death.
    • Even with a donor card, the family’s consent is sought for organ donation after the death of the individual.
    • If the family refuses, the organs are not harvested.
  • On the other hand, Spain has an opt-out system where a person is presumed to be a donor unless otherwise specified.
• Availability of transplant coordinator
  • Having a medically qualified transplant coordinator helps in organ donation.
    • A transplant coordinator is the patient's link to the transplant hospital.
    • They also serve as information resources for patients and families after the transplant.
  • India has smaller number of such coordinators.
• Transport infrastructure
  • Good transport networks between cities and states can help boost organ donation.
  • There is need to improve coordination among the Road, Railway, and Aviation Ministries to facilitate the creation of green corridors for faster transportation of organs.
• Less awareness
  • There is need for more awareness about organ transplant so that people register as donors.

 

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Q1) When is Organ Donation Day celebrated in India?

Organ Donation Day is observed every year on 13^th of August. The aim of this day is to motivate normal human beings to pledge to donate organs after death, and to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation.

 

Q2) What is the rank of India in organ donation?

India ranks third in the world only after USA and China as per the data available on the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation (GODT) website.

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Source: Explained | The process of organ transplants from a deceased donor