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World Organ Donation Day 2022: In India, around 5 lakh patients need an organ transplant annually, which is growing annually. However, the demand is more than the supply as irrespective of the continuous awareness undertaken by the government, people are still hesitant or have misconceptions regarding donation. As a result, the country's organ donation rate is 1.6 per million globally, which is very low compared to some western countries. Also, the pandemic reduced the donation rate further due to multiple reasons like a smaller number of cadavers eligible for transplant due to infection, lack of resources, fear of the transmission of the virus through donation etc.
Dr Gaurav Gupta, Senior Consultant & Chief Surgeon - Liver Transplant & HPB Surgery, Fortis Hospital Mulund shares why organ donation is yet a battle to win
There are two ways in which a person is eligible to donate their organs a person who is healthy and wishes to donate part of the liver or one kidney to their loved ones, and this is called living donation. The second one is cadaver donation a brain-dead person can donate heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, pancreas and tissues.
Brain death is certified by two sets of doctors who conduct tests at least twice six hours apart. Once a person is certified as brain dead, legally and medically, he is dead and cannot be revived.
Post-registration, the person is given a donor card signifying that they wish to donate organs, tissues etc., in the future. The card is not legally binding; instead, it expresses a person's willingness to be a donor. During the time of organ donation, the family of a patient has a right to decide on whether to donate organs or not.