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Consent rate for donating organs and tissues is only 50 per cent

Coordination is a painful job and the most important hurdle

Karimnagar: Consent rate for donating organs and tissues is found to be 50 per cent, according to an assessment carried out by Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad.

Therefore, senior transplant surgeons and government authorities feel that there is a great need to create awareness about organ donation among people, in particular, in rural parts. Dr Manish C. Varma, transplant surgeon of Apollo Jubilee stated that they had assessed over 100 donors of organs and tissues. “The concentrate of the respondents was 50 per cent. Over 75 per cent of consented donors were family members of victims of road transport accidents. This has to be focused on while promoting organ donations,” opined Mr Varma. He was in the city to participate in an awareness programme on organ donation held by Apollo Reach Hospitals in association with Jeevandan Trust, a state-run body.

When it comes to reasons of poor consent, many donors approach their physicians, who are familiar with benefits of organ donations, before giving away vital parts of a dead or ailing patient to the needy. Similarly, religious beliefs discourage people from gifting their organs. At the same time, family members of a brain-dead patient are not coming forward at an appropriate time. Coordination is a painful job and the most important hurdle, stated a senior government doctor.

Awareness required in rural areas
Organ donation gives a second chance for many in their lives but there are many others who are still waiting for donors. Major hospitals are able to arrange for organ transplantation to required patients but still many patients are looking for donors.

Being an organ donor one can make a big difference, and not just to one person. By donating organs after death, they can save or improve as many as 50 lives. Many families have also come forward recently to donate the organs of their family members and they said that seemed to help them cope with their loss. To increase the number of organ donors, doctors say there is a need for creating awareness among the rural areas too about organ donation so that many will come forward.

“Most of the donors are educated people who know the value of donating organs. There is a need for the government to conduct special drives to create awareness for the rural people. There are already PHCs in villages through which awareness can be conducted to the people. NGOs too have to take up initiatives to reach out to the people and educating them. In this way, the time required for finding an organ for transplantation can be reduced and so many lives can be saved,” Dr. Srinath, a nephrologist in a private hospital in Warangal said.

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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