Giving a new life... after death

Organ donation in Mumbai has increased this year. But it still isn't enough. Zeenia F Baria finds out how the process works From the thousands of deaths that take place in the city every week, only a small number of organs are donated. The list of needy recipients, meanwhile, continues to grow longer. Each of these are in dire need of either kidneys, liver, heart, eyes or other organs. Several of these patients die before they even reach the top of the list to receive an organ. As anxious families wait for donors, doctors say there is an urgent need to increase awareness about the requirement for organ transplants. While Mumbai has seen a fall in the number of donors in the last couple of years, there has been an increase in the number in 2012. But is it enough? Who can donate an organ? Organ donors are healthy people, who have suffered an irreversible brain injury or a brain hemorrhage resulting in brain death. Integrated medicines specialist Dr Anil Patil says, "The health of the donor, his organs and tissues are considered. Brain death means that the brain is no longer functioning and can never recover, but vital organs and tissues can be supported artificially for a limited time and used for transplantation. Tissues don't require the same special conditions as organs to survive, so tissue donation is possible even after the heart and lungs have stopped working. Many people incorrectly believe that if they donate organs, their family will have to fund the cost of the operation done to remove the organ. This is a fallacy. All costs are borne by the recipient. " Do blood and tissue type have to match the recipient's? It is easier to transplant organs if the donor and recipient have a match. Tests are conducted to see whether blood and tissue types are compatible. However, an organ can be transplanted even if the blood and tissue types don't match. In such cases, the recipient is given special treatment to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. Becoming an organ donor One needs to be in good health to be an organ donor. People who suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes or other health problems are not eligible. When healthy person dies in an accident or even a brain hemorrhage, he/she can be an organ donor. Called cadaver donation, it is different from live donation, which is possible only in kidney and bone marrow. "People have misconceptions on organ donations. Organ donation is not a taboo subject if the idea is put across properly. The Zonal Transplant Co-ordination Centre (ZTCC) has decided to start a cadaver organ donation support group for families who donate bodies of their loved ones. The support group can have meetings for donor families. Our idea was for them to help each other as they have gone through similar experiences and can also help less privileged members," says Dr Sujata Patwardhan, secretary, ZTCC Mumbai. Gastroentrologist Dr Roy Patankar sums it up by saying, "Any adult of sound mind can donate an organ. One must not be suffering from Hepatitis B/ C, HIV, cancer or any communicable illness. Ideally, the blood group must be same. For alive related donors, tissue typing is required but for cadaver (deceased) donors, blood group match is adequate."