Post Health Minister’s Pledge, Hyderabad Hospitals to Run Organ Donation Awareness Camp

By Vasudha Bhat , Onlymyhealth editorial team

Aug 06, 2014

Hyderabad Organ Donation Camp After Andhra Pradesh health minister Kamineni Srinivas pledged to become an organ donor, some hospitals in Hyderabad city are preparing to run a massive awareness campaign to motivate people for organ donation.

The rate of organ donation in India is one of the lowest around the world with only 0.08 donations per million deaths. This rate is much lower than parts of the western world where 10-30 donations per million deaths are done.

Health minister Kamineni Srinivas said "only 0.16 percent of 10 lakh Indians donated their organs in the previous year.
More than five lakh people lose their lives every year due to shortage of organs".

Last year despite the awareness campaign, only 180 organs were donated by 40 donors in parts of the undivided Andhra Pradesh.

A single donor who donates organs like liver, kidneys, intestine, pancreas, heart, and lungs can save lives of nine patients who are suffering from some or the other organ failure.

On the occasion on World Organ Donor Day on September 6, Continental Hospital in the city has organized an awareness campaign and will register donors who wish to enroll. The campaign will have senior neurologists and physicians talk and others who will resolve doubts and misconceptions about organ donation and brain death.

According to an estimate, the country is in a need of 25,000 livers and 1,00,000 kidneys per year to save lives of patients.

A survey showed that only an increase of up to 3 donors per million deaths in India can have a surplus of organs. At present, over 85 per cent liver and 90 per cent kidney transplants are being done by using organs of the patient’s living relatives. This situation has arisen due to shortage of cadaver organ donors.

Showing concern over shortage of organ donors, director of Care Hospitals Mohan Maharaj said that many patients lose their lives due to unavailability of organs.