(Organ Donation Day is celebrated on August 13 in India to raise awareness about the cause and help people pledge their organs for donation.)
R Madhavan aka Maddy is not only one of the ruling stars of South Indian cinema, he takes his social responsibilities seriously. His new web series Breathe is a gritty 8-episode psychological thriller, which is premised on the murder of organ donors.
But Madhavan is proud to say that he has been an organ donor for the past 10 years now. And he’s happy to break the superstitions surrounding organ donations.
In a chat with FIT, Madhavan helps debunk five of the most popular myths around organ donation in India.
1. Organ Donation Can Only Happen After Death
This is the biggest misconception related to organ donation. There are two types of organ donation – living organ donation and deceased organ donation. The former, as the name suggests, takes place when a person is still alive and willingly donates organs - an example is kidney or liver transplant. The latter is when organs are harvested from a brain-dead person and transplanted into a living recipient.
2. Doctors Don’t Save Patient’s Life if She/He Is an Organ Donor
Wrong. A doctor will always try and save his patient’s life. Secondly the doctor who is treating a person has nothing to do with organ donation.
3. Doctors May Steal Another Organ
Organ trade is illegal and happens very rarely. All living donor transplants are always videotaped, which leaves no room for the organs going missing. If the organ donation is done under a legal aegis, the smallest of mistakes leads to penalty.
4. Superstitions Related to Mutilation of Body Post-Death
Donating organs leads to saving the lives of other human beings. The myth that a person’s soul won’t rest in peace if his/her body is not intact is a lot of bunkum. A lot of people do not donate eyes because they feel they will be born blind in the next life. These are just superstitions - do not believe them.
5. Age, Creed, Caste and Religion Restrict Organ Donation
Absolutely wrong. God has made everybody in the same way and automatically each body organ performs the same function, irrespective of creed, caste, religion or gender. There are no restrictions around age, gender, creed or caste for donating an organ.
Camera: Sanjoy Deb
Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan
(Have you subscribed to FIT’s newsletter yet? Click here and get health updates directly in your inbox.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)