“ Every donor can save eight potential life”

There are many people who are suffering with severe diseases, not only in India rather around the world and they need organ or tissue transplants in order to get back to normal life. Which can be achieved only through supply of human organs that are suitable for transplant and can save someone’s life. This is one of such growing unwanted market, where demand is much-much more than supply.  It would not an ivory to say that though India is the second largest population country in the world, than also the rate of donation is 0.54 donors per million people and which is very much low in comparison to the countries like USA where there are 31 donors per million, Croatia with at 33 and Spain counts for leading country in term of donors with 46 donors per million.

The first organ transplant was done in early 70s in India and that was a kidney transplant. If we see where we are now. Every 17th minute some one dies waiting for transplantation and every 13th minute some one added to the list. Let us take simple example of blindness, India is home to one forth of blind population on earth, we have about approx. 8 million blind people, out of which 75% can are curable. If daily dead people donate their eyes, with in 11 days, approx. all blinds would be able to see the world.Organs that can be transplanted include heart, lungs, intestine, liver, kidneys, and pancreas, Skin tissues, stem cells, blood and human egg donations.

There are number of reasons that are responsible for such low rate for example; misconception and emotional concerns, various religions has various believes, the awareness level of people, myths regarding organ donations, stereotyping, fear, black market of organs, absence of proper infrastructure to preserve organ and to transplant, lack of proper follow-up and counseling with potential donors. Apart from this, the major issue is, one who accept to be donor and want to donate organ, after her/his death, family members take decision, so here occurs another challenge, family members are unable to accept andtake such hard decision, it is difficult to accept for any one in family that brain dead means persons no more.

The organ donation market is, where patients are the consumers, prospective donors are the suppliers and where Govt. and hospitals are market, but no exchange of money is legal. As a result, those, whoneedorgan, have to rely on unwilling donors or to wait for organs, which they may never receive. This is a big unsolved challenge especially country like India, where donation rate is quite low and day by day the list of receiver is getting lengthy.

There are many skepticism and trepidation about donating organs. Therefore, in such situation,we need to put efforts to understand the gap of marketers, reasons of the failures and weakest link of the chain to bring all three parties at a common platform.

Awareness, trust and communication can trap this situation up to some extent. The communication shall be used intelligently and very sensitively with Government involvement, some marketing strategies and complete transparency.Improving organ donation also required training to hospital staff, better medical facilities and transparency in organ allotment. There is an urgent need to takevarious steps through all stakeholders to improve organ donation in India, which are not practiced earlier.