Need movement to encourage organ donations in India: Vardhan

Ruing the dismal status of organ donations in India, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan today called for a movement to encourage people to come forward to pledge their organs even as he declared that the government was planning six regional centres for organ donation.
"We are trying to develop the institutionalised mechanism through the bone marrow registry at AIIMS and National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO). We are also trying to develop six regional centres in the country," said the Union Science and Technology minister.
Presently, the Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation (ORBO) at AIIMS serves as the nodal centre for organ donation in the country.

As to the setting up of ORBO centres in the states, he said, "The government is making a planned effort since the day it was formed. We are developing NOTTO and regional centres.
"Similarly, the state governments should also set up facilities like NOTTO and ORBO. We have kept Rs 180 crore for the purpose in the Five Year plan."
Speaking at a programme organised by Dadhichi Sewa Samiti at AIIMS, where 301 persons registered for body donation, he said that the most important need was for promoting with a "pious" intention an organ donation movement in the country.

"Many people, who do not get a chance to donate their body or organs, can become ambassadors for this movement.

"They can serve as vision ambassadors, kidney ambassadors and play the crucial role of motivating and assisting people or the family of a deceased person to agree to organ donation," the minister said.
Expressing regret over the low percentage of organ donations in the country, Vardhan said, "Presently Spain is number one in this regard and we are perhaps at the bottom. We have to encourage a large number of people and ensure they agree to organ donation."
Family members of donors whose body parts were transplanted to recipients in the last one year were felicitated by the minister.
AIIMS Director Dr MC Mishra, who attended the function, rued the "very low" organ donations in the country at 0.05 donations per million. He added that it was "shameful" since ours was a 1.25-billion strong country.

"Much is needed to be done in the area of organ donation. As of now, when there is a brain death, our transplant coordinators talk to the families concerned who (often) reject donation. In 2014, we (AIIMS) got 1-2 donations, which is very sad", he said.