New Delhi, Nov 27: Organ donation is a “godlike act”, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said Monday, stressing the need to improve infrastructure and capacity of government hospitals for undertaking transplantation for the benefit of those who cannot afford it.
She said there was a need to promote cadaver or deceased organ donation rather than relying on living donors to avoid the likelihood of commercial trading of organs and the inherent risk to the health of the living donor.
“When seen from the perspective of reason and rationale, the gift of life is the ultimate gift that one could give and organ donation is therefore a ‘godlike act’ and needs to be encouraged,” she said.
Patel was speaking at the ‘8th Indian Organ Donation Day’, organised by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO).
“Apart from promoting organ donation, it is important to improve infrastructure and capacity of government hospitals for undertaking transplantation so that even those who cannot afford transplantation may also benefit,” she said while urging all to come forward and donate their organs.
She said it is important to understand that in India it is mainly the living donors who are donating organs and only about 23 per cent of the organ transplant is being done with organs obtained from the cadavers.
“There is a need to promote cadaver or deceased organ donation rather than relying on living donors in order to avoid the risk of commercial trading of organs and also to avoid the inherent risk to the health of the living donor,” she said.
Health secretary Preeti Sudan applauded KK Sharma, Director General, BSF, for his efforts towards motivating 70,000 personnel to pledge their organs, and also congratulated Tamil Nadu for leading the nation in the field of organ donation.
She urged religious leaders and youths to take forward the movement of organ donation and highlighted the importance of ownership at the highest level, and connectivity at the lowest level to create a successful and transparent organ donation program in the country.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar highlighted the exemplary work that Tamil Nadu did by retrieving 5,933 organs from 1,056 donors. He said Tamil Nadu was the first state in India for various initiatives such as mandatory certification of brainstem death, streamlining organ distribution and setting up green corridors.
He said that Tamil Nadu was also supplying free immunosuppressant drugs and providing sanctions of up to Rs 35 lakh under the Chief Minister Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme for facilitating organ transplants in the private sector.
Patel felicitated KK Sharma, DG, BSF, and the families of deceased organ donors from various parts of the country.
The best performing states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Telangana also received awards while JIPMER, Puducherry, was announced as the best budding performer in organ donation and transplantation. (PTI)
