NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, FEB 22
One organ donor can save the life of 7-8 patients and can enhance the quality of life of 40-50 patients, said a noted radiologist from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi here on Friday.
Dr. Jaideep Kumar Sharma, the second-longest coma survivor in the world, was addressing the ILEAD Commune leaders and took a motivating Value-Addition session on WHO AM I? At the end of the session, many leaders have announced their desire to donate organs.
“Dr. Sharma’s mission is to save lives through the provision of exceptional healthcare. His life is an inspirational story of exemplary leadership in the field of medicine and ‘living by example’. We want all our ILEAD Commune leaders to get inspired by his story and promise to give something back to society. I thank Dr. Jaideep for sharing his heart touching story with us and for motivating the commune members to the core,” shared Leader Shyam Taneja of I CAN – I WILL Foundation.
Facing a tragic accident, Dr. Jaideep had battled with death to ‘LIVE’ against all odds. Today, he strongly advocates that organ donation is a bioethical issue from a social perspective, as saving lives is the most precious and priceless contribution towards humanity. He believes that sensitizing youth towards the importance of organ donation will help in breaking the conservative mindset of society.
Dr Jaideep has been strongly emphasising upon the need to motivate individuals, families, and organizations to pledge to donate organs after death and to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation.
Speaking to the media, Dr Jaideep said, “Of the total population of the youth in the world 11 percent are Indians. And in India, 19 percent of deaths occur in road accidents and most of the victims are youth. Instead of burying or burning the victims’ bodies, they can be donated to save the lives of many who require organ donation. All of us can pledge organ donation and recycle our body parts to live forever.”
To create a virtual technological platform to link doctors and patients across the globe and to deliver timely, affordable and quality healthcare to especially those residing in rural areas, Dr Jaideep has launched a project called ‘HEAL’- Health Experience at the Speed of Light.
Dwelling at length on organ donation, Dr Jaideep said, “India faces an acute shortage of cadaver organs for transplantation, with barely 5% of the organs that get transplanted annually in India coming from deceased donors. There is a huge gap between demand and supply as India needs lakhs of kidneys, livers, and hearts each year to carry out transplants.”
“On any given day, there are thousands of patients in India die for want of an organ for transplant, out of which more than 50% don’t have a matching donor within the family, and are forced to rely on organ donations from the families of brain dead patients. Harvesting the organs of brain dead patients, as well as the dead persons, have been made easy now. The Central government has also launched the National Organ and Tissue Transplantation Registry (NOTT) in 2015, to bridge the enormous demand and supply gap in organ donations in the country,” Dr Jaideep added.
Even though 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 donors.
So don’t bury or burn your organs, pass it on, give a gift of life to someone!
Who can be an organ donor?
Anyone regardless of age, race or gender can become an organ and tissue donor. The person is under the age of 18 years, then the consent of the parent or legal guardian is essential.
How can you be an organ donor?
According to the information released on the official website of AIIMS, there are two ways to donate organs:
1. By pledging for organ donation when a person is alive.
2. By consent of family after death.
If you want to become a donor here are some simple steps you need to follow:
During a lifetime, a person can pledge for organ donation by filling up a donor form and the organ donor form could be obtained from ORBO either personally or through the mail.
Step 1: Download the donor form the official website without any fees.
Step 2: After download, fill the “Organ/Body Donation” form.
Step 3: You need two witnesses’ signature on the donor form one of whom must be a near relative.
Step 4: If your request is excepted then a “Donor Card” with a registration number will be sent to you.
Step 5: If you become a donor then you must share this decision with the dear ones.
Unregistered donations are also accepted by the hospital. If a person expires without registration, then the family members of theta person can donate his/her organs. For this donation, the only thing they need is to sign a consent form, which is provided at that time. The deceased body is given back to the family in a dignified way.
If you want to become a donor you can register yourself on these websites:
- National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO)
National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) is a National level organization set up under Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Official website: www.notto.gov.in
- Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (ROTTO)
Here is a list of Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization:
- Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai (Maharashtra)
Official website: https://www.kem.edu/ - Govt. Multispecialty Hospital, Omnadurar, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
Official website: http://www.tngmssh.tn.gov.in/ - Institute of PG Medical Education and Research, Kolkata (West Bengal)
Official website: http://www.ipgmer.gov.in/ - PGIMER Chandigarh(UT of Chandigarh)
Official website: http://pgimer.edu.in/PGIMER_PORTAL/PGIMERPORTAL/home.jsp - Guwahati Medical College (Assam)
Official website: http://gmchassam.gov.in/
Which organs can be donated?
Kidney, Lungs, Heart, Eye, Liver, Pancreas, Cornea, Small Intestine, Skin tissues, Bone tissues, Heart valves, Veins
