Gift Of Life
• A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. Body and organ donation is a noble and kind act which helps society in numerous ways.
• Donation is significant because thousands of people die or suffer each year needlessly due to a lack of organ and tissue donors.
• A transplant is often the only hope. One organ donor can save as many as eight lives.
•Organ donation is the process of removing tissues or organs (part or whole) from a live or recently dead person to be used in another.
Vital organs and tissues can be donated for transplantation. Different types of donations are:
• Organs – heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver etc.
• Tissue – cornea, skin, blood, sperm, eggs and bone marrow etc
• Body Donation
Why there is a need of organ donation?
• One donor can be a lifesaver and transform many lives as well. Donation affects more than donors and recipients; it influences an entire society. Organ donation gives a born-again moment for those who have lost hope. Organ donation helps people connect to their most human trait, altruism.
• Organ donations which got stopped during the pandemic, have seen a steady rise this year in the first quarter in Karnataka.
• Jeevasarthakathe, the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (SOTTO), which is the nodal agency which facilitates cadaver organ donations, recorded in 2021-
70 cadaveric donations
284 organs and tissues (including corneas and heart valves).
1.5 to 2 lakh people in India need a kidney, but only 3500 of them receive one.
India’s annual liver transplant requirement is 25,000 - 30000, but we manage only about 1000 - 1500. 80 - 85% of liver transplants are taken care of by a live donor, & the rest are dependent on cadaveric donations.
Fifty thousand heart transplants are required, but 15 – 20 are done.
90% of people on the waiting list die without getting an organ.
• A cadaveric dissection is a vital tool for learning anatomy. In addition to learning anatomy, these cadaveric bodies are also utilized for practising surgical skills and developing new methods in numerous hands-on workshops.
• Many colleges have nobody to teach medical students.
• So, there is a need for awareness about organ and body donation among the public.