Organ Donation

Organ donation is the process of giving an organ or a part of an organ for the purpose of transplantation into another person. Both deceased and living organ donation begins with a person who recognizes an opportunity to help others.

Organ donation in India is regulated by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994. The law allows both deceased and living donors to donate their organs. It also identifies brain death as a form of death. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) functions as the apex body for activities of relating to procurement, allotment and distribution of organs in the country.

Although India has performed the second largest number of transplants in the world in 2019 (after United States), it lags far behind the western nations like Spain (35.1 pmp), United States (21.9 pmp) and United Kingdom (15.5 pmp) in national donation with a donation rate of only 0.65 per million population (2019) due to its huge population. According to the World Health Organization, only around 0.01 percent of people in India donate their organs after death. Some of the reasons behind such poor performance are lack of public awareness, religious or superstitious beliefs among people, and strict laws.

In 2019, the Government of India implemented the National Organ Transplant Programme with a budget of ₹149.5 crore (US$21 million) for promoting deceased organ donation.

In Kerala the organ donation is carried out through Kerala Network of Organ Donation (KNOS) by Kerala’s Deceased Donor Organ Transplantation Program, a  Kerala Government Initiative established on 12th August 2012.

The Online Transplant Registry maintain records of patients on waiting list for Kidney, Liver, Heart and Pancreas transplants in the state, The programme was initiated as a large number of patients suffers from an account of irreversible organ ailments involving Heart, Liver, Pancreas and kidney. The programme aims at giving such vulnerable individual an opportunity to have a transplant surgery and lead a healthy life. Moreover, considering the ethical issues surrounding the live and deceased organ transplantation, Government felt the need to streamline the procedures for deceased donor Multi organ transplantation (DDMOT) in the State. Any issues related to it should be addressed to the State Convenor,

Kerala’s cadaver organ donation programme that came to a standstill in 2017 has gained momentum again. In the first six months of 2020, state, despite being hit by Covid-19 pandemic, witnessed two heart transplants, 15 kidney, one pancreas and eight liver transplants from nine donors. There were two hand transplants as well. In contrast, from January to June 2019, there were only seven donors.

Ironically, state has seen a drop in live organ transplants during Covid period.

From January 1 to June 30, 2019, there were 72 live liver transplants. During the same period in 2020, there were 44 liver transplants. However, transplant experts confirm that live transplants came to a standstill in the state in March, just before nationwide lockdown was announced.