Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday expressed deep concern over the growing commercialisation of organ donation, advocating that it should be driven by altruism rather than financial gain. Speaking at an event organised by Jain Social Groups (JSG) Central Sansthan, Jaipur, and Dadhichi Deh Dan Samiti, Delhi, Dhankar emphasised the need to preserve the noble nature of organ donation and prevent it from becoming a commercial enterprise that exploits vulnerable individuals.
“We cannot allow organ donation to be an exploitation field of the vulnerable for commercial gain of wily elements,” Dhankhar stated.
He urged citizens to embrace organ donation as a mission aligned with the tradition of serving humanity, highlighting the theme of World Organ Donation Day, “Be the Reason for Someone’s Smile Today.”
Doctors in the sector pointed out that while India faces a significant challenge in addressing the gap between the demand for organs and their availability, the cadaver organ donation rate has remained critically low at less than one donor per million people per year.
The advocated the need for hospitals to promptly identify and certify brain deaths to facilitate timely organ donation.
Dr. Praveen Gupta, Principal Director & Chief of Neurology at Fortis Hospital, emphasised the importance of swift identification and certification of brain death, which is legally recognised as a death in India. “Timely identification of brain death is crucial for organ donation, ensuring that organs remain viable for transplantation and increasing the chances of successful transplants,” he said.
Dr. Ravi Bansal, Senior Consultant in Nephrology at PSRI Hospital, Delhi, delved on similar lines, highlighting that kidney transplants have a profound impact on patients with renal failure, noting that kidneys can be donated by family members or from brain death donors. He stressed that kidney donation does not affect the life of the donor.
Dr. Ankur Garg, Director & HOD of HPB Surgery and Liver Transplant at SHALBY Sanar International Hospitals, Gurugram, lamented the scarcity of donated organs and the transplant delay. He pointed out that advanced procedures like ABO-Incompatible organ transplants underscore the importance of organ donation, even when donor-recipient compatibility is a challenge.
Union Health Secretary, Apurva Chandra too had recently underpinned the need to enhance awareness about organ donation and stressed that “to ensure that there is no organ wastage, we must strengthen our system.
When we receive any brain-dead person, the time is less and we have to harvest the organs in 12 hours and the transplant has to happen within a short window.”
