World Organ Donation Day

World Organ Donation Day….

Maha Media 13 August 2019

August 13 is observed as World Organ Donation Day every year. The purpose of the celebration is clear - to promote organ donation for those who are in need of them. In India alone, lakhs of people die each year because of their organ failure.

There are estimated 1.8 lakh people suffered due to kidney related diseases in our country every year.  Of these, hardly 6000 to 7000 patients get kidney transplantation which is barely 3.3 per cent of total patients. Similarly, around two lakh people lose their lives due to liver-related diseases or cancer. Of these, only 10 to 15 per cent (25 to 30 thousands) lucky patients could get their livers transplant.
The country needs 25 to 30 thousand livers transplantation every year, but reality is that only 1500 patients could avail such facilities. It is clear that there is a huge gap between organ donation and organ transplantation. There is need to motivate people to donate their organ so that lives of more and more needy people can be saved.

Organ donation is donating a donor’s organs like-- kidney, heart, lungs, eyes, liver, pancreas, cornea, small intestine, skin tissues, bone tissues, heart valves and veins after the donor dies, for the purpose of transplanting them into another person who is in need of an organ. 

One organ and tissue donor can help transform the lives of more than 10 people. Tissues such as cornea, heart valves, skin, and bone can be donated in case of natural death but vital organs such as heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, lungs, and pancreas can be donated only in the case of ‘brain death’.
Organs such as the heart, pancreas, liver, kidneys and lungs can be transplanted to those recipients whose organs are failing because it allows many recipients to return to a normal lifestyle.

People from all walks of life should come forward to spread awareness among people about the need of organ donation. There is need to remove hesitation of the people about organ donation. The decision to donate organ is strictly based on medical criteria and we must know that organ donation is irrespective of age, caste, religion, community etc.

Even though the millions of people have registered to become organ donors, but still people lost their lives with vital organ failure. About 90 per cent of patients in India die while waiting for the organs due to the lack of donor

Therefore, the aim of this day is to motivate people to donate organs after death, and to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation.