By Dr. Raajiv Singhal
Organ donation is the noblest of all acts, especially where families have the courage and fortitude to rise above their grief and sorrow of losing their loved one and donate organs for many lives to be saved. The recent times have witnessed an increase in organ donation with increased awareness and with people shedding superstitions and myths to embrace reality and outcomes of organ donations in saving lives.
Organ transplantation is one of the greatest advances in modern medicine. Unfortunately, the need for organ donors is much greater than the number of people who actually donate. Over the last six to eight years, there has been a ten-fold increase in organ donation and the conversation about organ donation is slowly picking up momentum. But we still have a considerable road to cross before organ donation becomes an automatic act by families and saving lives through organ donation becomes a norm. The gap between demand of organs, the waiting list of patients and the organ donation is still a wide one. Religious beliefs, superstitions, lack of awareness and myths remain cobwebs that detain families from donating organs.
Organs harvested within the critical time can enable a person to donate and save close to eight or nine lives of people suffering from organ failures and terminal illnesses. Organ donation is of two types, living donor organ donation such as kidney, liver. The other is a cadaveric organ retrieval and transplant where a family can donate organs such as liver, kidney, heart, lung, pancreas, intestines and tissues such as cornea, tendons, valves, skin, veins, and bones.
Currently, a patient in need of organs that can be retrieved can register in two states as per NOTTO (National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation) rules. NOTTO allocates the registered patient in the waiting list on availability and match of organs donated.
Healthcare providers are constantly evolving to create an environment and ecosystem where patients in the need of organs can get quality treatment. This is where we talk about the 4 A’s of healthcare: Awareness, Accessibility, Affordability and Accountability.
Lastly, but of prime importance, is accountability to our patients. We believe that all decisions taken in the medical space should always be for the benefit of the patient. We are evolving in creating a culture which keeps accountability as a pivot for transparency and trust. We are accountable to our employees, to the society we live in, and to all the people who are associated with our ecosystem.
India remains the topmost country in the world with maximum road accidents and deaths. If multiple stakeholders embrace the responsibility to spread as much awareness as possible, organ donation will become an act undertaken by increased number of families.
One way of seeing it is to see your loved one live through the ones who have received the organs!
(The author is Founding Member, MD & CEO, Marengo Asia Healthcare. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of FinancialExpress.com.)