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(Photo: Chetan Bhakun/FIT)
(Photo: Chetan Bhakun/FIT)
(Photo: Chetan Bhakun/FIT)
(Photo: Chetan Bhakun/FIT)
(Photo: Chetan Bhakun/FIT)
(Photo: Chetan Bhakun/FIT)
(Photo: Chetan Bhakun/FIT)
(Photo: Chetan Bhakun/FIT)
The world’s first-ever organ transplant that was successfully carried out was way back in 1954 in the United States when Ronald Lee Herrick had donated one of his kidneys to his twin brother Richard. For this surgery, the doctor, Joseph Murray, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1990.
In India, the first organ donation was a kidney transplant that was conducted in 1965 at Mumbai's King Edward Memorial Hospital.
India’s organ donation rate stands at 0.52 per million population. Between 2014-2022, the numbers of donors increased from 6,919 to 16,041.
From every donor, eight organs can be transplanted:
However, out of the 8 organs, on average, only 2.6 are being used for transplantation in India at the moment.
As an estimate, annually…
2 lakh people need a kidney but only 8,000 receive it
80,000 people need a new liver but only 1,800 receive it
10,000 people need a new heart but only 200 receive it
2 lakh people need new corneas but less than 50,000 can get it
The numbers, shared by the Union Health Ministry, are concerning because every 10 minutes, at least one more person is being added to the waitlist of people who need an organ donation. Over 3 lakh people are already in the waitlist.
Telangana
Tamil Nadu
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Gujarat
In 2021, 85 percent of deceased donations in the country were made in these five states. However, Delhi took the lead in the number of living donors that year.
India stands at number three when it comes to the number of transplants conducted globally each year. In 2022, for the first time, India achieved more than 15,000 transplants.
The number of deceased donors in India has been gradually slowing down. In 2019, 16.77 percent of all organ donations came from deceased donors. In 2021, this number reduced to 14.07 percent.
The number of living donations is also more because kin of patients often donate their kidneys and liver to them.
Can something be done about this to prevent savable deaths?
Stricter laws are brought in for organ donation.
Awareness campaigns are held about organ donation frequently and in various places.
Organs of deceased road accident victims are harvested.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
Published: 12 Aug 2023,04:00 PM IST