What is the News ?
According to recent data, around three lakh patients wait for organ donation in the country.

About:

• the number of donors (including cadavers) grew from 6,916 in 2014 to only 16,041 in 2022.
• The country registered 1,589 kidney, 761 liver and 250 heart transplants in the deceased category that year. 
• Kidney and pancreas transplants grew from 3 in 2014 to 22 in 2022.
• In contrast, living donor kidney transplants rose from 4,884 in 2014 to 9,834 in 2022.
• Liver transplants in this category grew from 1,002 to 2,957
• one person is added to the waitlist every 10 minutes in the country

Ministry’s steps to enhance organ donations

• doing away with the domicile rule
• removal of age bar for registration of recipients
• removal of fee for registration for transplant
• easing rules on withdrawal of life support (passive euthanasia)
• facilitation of organ transport across the country
• giving special casual leave for employed organ donors

The annual need for 2,00,000 kidney transplants highlights the pressing urgency of the situation. 

• However, a mere 10,000 transplants are performed each year, revealing a staggering gap. 
• The demand for deceased donors is substantial because many families lack suitable living donors. 
• Therefore, relying on deceased donors can help partially meet this demand
• statistics indicate around 70%-75% of donors are women. Wives, mothers, and sisters have emerged as the most prevalent sources of donatio

Organ donation pledges in India need to translate into actual donations and for that, medical staff need to be educated.

• They must be able to recognise, identify, inform, and counsel familiesabout brain death and the importance of organ donation.
• The gap between demand and supply continues to be tremendous. So, there is a need to equip our ICU staff with knowledge and awareness, the sooner the gap will close.

Greater awareness will improve in following way

• One cadaver can save up to eight lives.
• Two donated kidneys can free two patients from dialysis treatment.
• One donated liver can be split among two patients on the waitlist.
• Two donated lungs mean two other patients are given a second chance, and a donated pancreas and donated heart translate to two more patients receiving the gift of life.
• One tissue donor — someone who can donate bone, tendons, cartilage, connective tissue, skin, corneas, sclera, and heart valves and vessels — can save the lives of as many as 75 people.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/indias-poor-organ-donation-record-continues-to-cost-lives/article67161978.ece#:~:text=Three%20lakh%20patients%20wait%20for,donor%20can%20save%20several%20lives