Nearly 5 lakh people in India die due to unavailability of organs. Dr Ravinder Pal debunks myths associated with organ donation and things to keep in mind
Every year around five lakh people die due to the failure of major functioning organs. India being a densely populated country, of more than 1.2 billion, the stats show that only 0.08 per million of them help the organ needy. Comparatively these numbers are too weak to give a stand in the world. Countries like US, UK, Germany, and Netherlands are averaging between 10–30 PMP (Parts per million population). These countries have a ‘family consent’ system for donations where the consent of the family is required, when people sign up as donors. Other countries like Singapore, Spain and Belgium have a more aggressive approach of ‘Presumed Consent’ – Organ donation by default. The rate of donation in these countries ranges between 20–40 PMP.
There are several myths and misperceptions about organ donation in India which can prevent donating from a donor. Spreading awareness about the true facts about the organ donation can save many precious lives. Some of the myths which prevents organ donation are as follows:
Myth1: Hospital or the treating doctor would not treat me comprehensively, if I am a designated organ donor.
Wrong. Every doctor and hospital always try to treat the patient in the best possible way they can, irrespective of any other thoughts. As the doctors and the hospital does not have any relation to do with organ donation until a patient is declared brain dead. It is one such total misconception among many of the Indian population.
Myth 2: Patients with chronic conditions or other medical ailments cannot become donor.
This is another misconception that hinders in volunteering themselves to be organ donors. Regardless of medical history, anyone can donate their organs by becoming a donor. Deceased patients suffering from chronic ailments can also donate their organs or tissues.
Myth 3: Blind people cannot donate their eyes
In actual blind people can also donate their eyes unless suffering from corneal blindness. There being a dearth of eye donation in India, the burden of blindness is still piling up. In comparison to other countries, where over 80 per cent of the population donates their organs including eyes, only 1 per cent of the Indian population undertake voluntary cadaver organ donation. The clear tissue covering the front of the eye, known as cornea if gets cloudy due to disease, injury, infection or poor nutrition, drastically reduces the vision and gradually leads to blindness. While corneal blindness is one of the most common and avoidable blindness can be treated by replacing the damaged cornea with a healthy donated on.
RISKS
As with any other surgical procedure, there are both short term and long term risks involved in organ donation. Surgical complications may include pain, infection, blood clots, and allegoric reactions to anesthesia, injury to surrounding tissue or organ. But with the technological advancements, risks involved with organ donation continue to decrease. There has been no specific data available on the risks associated with organ donation.
For kidney donation, the risk for kidney failure increases by only 1 per cent for the donor. According to a recent study over 150,000 people awaits for kidney transplant but only around 5,000 among them receives it. General donation neither reduces the life expectancy nor prevents donors from living a normal and healthy life. Some possible long term risks for kidney donation may include hypertension (high blood pressure) with chances affecting only 1 in 1000 donors.
Nowadays, with better accessibility of specific immune-adsorption filters along with better protocols and improved standard of care, these risks are decreasing day by day and procedures are becoming more economically viable.