NEW DELHI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- In India nearly 500,000 people die every year waiting for a healthy organ donation while around one million suffer from corneal blindness as they await a transplant.
The first successful organ transplant was carried out 53 years ago in this country, yet less than 1,000 such procedures are performed every year. This is a significantly small number if compared to the number of people who die each year waiting for one.
Despite the growing need, organ transplant in India remains a taboo.
But while a patient can gain a new lease of life and the chance to live as in some cases transplant is the only alternative, the process is marred by superstitions and misconceptions. There are traditional beliefs like giving respect to a dead body and not removing its organs that prevent families from agreeing to donate the organs of their loved ones.
According to the law, the decision for organ donation ultimately rests with the next of kin. A lack of consent within the family can lead to the loss of crucial time in retrieving and harvesting the organs.
The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) was set up in 2014, and prior to it, the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA) came into effect in 1994 to provide a legal framework for the process.
"When I joined the profession, I saw many people wait in vain and agony for a healthy organ. Many died waiting. At that time, during the 1980s and 90s, there was no awareness about organ transplantation and neither were we fully equipped," said Dr. M.K. Gautam, a Delhi-based cardiologist.
"Those who could afford it went abroad seeking an organ. But today, with help of different organizations, we as doctors try to convince families of the deceased to donate the organs. It has been a very difficult journey, but today people are less reluctant about it than before," the cardiologist said.
It was THOA that legalized "brain death," which has been one of the main reasons behind the lack of consent regarding organ donation.
People often confuse brain death with being in a coma even though the former is irreversible. After it was made legal, doctors were encouraged to urge families of the deceased to donate organs and save lives.
Not just people, hospitals in the country are also not fully equipped to carry out organ transplantation. This makes the procedure an expensive and exclusive process, marginalizing those who cannot afford it.
"The country only has 301 hospitals that can perform organ transplantation. This means that for approximately four million people, there is one hospital that can retrieve an organ and carry out transplantation.
A lack of infrastructure prevents us from making awareness about organ transplantation a pan-India movement. We can only raise awareness where it is possible for people to see for themselves that organ transplantation is being carried out in a proper manner with full respect to their loved ones," said Dr. Sujata Makhija, who, until recently, worked with one of India's leading hospital chains and now is in the process of relocating to the United States.
Currently, in India, there are only five Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organizations (ROTTO). But the issue is now receiving attention. The media today carries successful stories of transplantation cases, with celebrities across the world pledging to the cause promoted widely by governmental and non-governmental organizations.
"I was 23 when I lost my kidneys in a road accident. My life came to a halt as I went for dialysis three times a week," recalled Ruchir Saxena, an MNC executive who now lives a healthy life.
"My family ran from pillar to post seeking a donor besides trying all kinds of other treatments. After 11 years, one call from my doctors changed my life. A deceased person's family donated his kidneys and the whole process was carried out within a matter of a few hours. Now, a year later, I am leading a healthy and regular life and I'm thankful every day to the family that saved my life," Saxena said.
To others, donating a close family member's organ becomes a way of seeing them come to life again through the saved person.
"We were heartbroken after our 24-year-old son died in a road accident. When members of NOTTO approached us, we were in too much shock to agree immediately to donate his eyes and kidneys. But we came around in a couple of hours and today I feel happy that three people are living a healthy life because of my son," said 58-year-old Mamta Puri.
"My son will live forever through them," the south Delhi-based homemaker said.
But there are miles to go before organ donation becomes a part of regular medical life in India.
Currently, six state-level organ transplant organizations are only in a proposal state, while data shows that not a single transplant has ever happened in several states. Plugging policy loopholes and coordinated civil society action are the only way to make organ donation a reality, experts attest.
