KOCHI: Kerala’s success as a leading state in deceased organ donation is well chronicled. But it seems the story is faltering, at least going by the latest data. So far this year, there have been only 11 deceased organ donations, compared to 72 in 2016, and 76 in 2015. The declining number of organ donors is in contrast to over 4,000 road-accident deaths the state reports every year, with most of them having succumbed to head injuries.
“Most people are wary of organ donation in brain death cases. It’s clear the counselling is given in hospitals prior to donation procedures and awareness programmes have only gone so far in convincing people. Then there’s the case of private hospitals, most of whom shy away because of the risk factors and expense they’ve to bear,” said Kerala Network for Organ Sharing’s (KNOS) Transplant Coordinator P V Aneesh.The donation procedure should begin at the hospital, where the accident victim is admitted to.Four doctors, including one empanelled (government approved), should confirm the brain death, reconfirm it after six hours, and the whole procedure has to be video-recorded and archived. Then they can talk to the family about donation procedures.
All this is the responsibility of the hospital, where the brain dead patient is admitted to. “It’s a huge challenge and costly affair. If the organ donation doesn’t happen, then the hospital will have to write-off the entire expense, which will come to at least `5 lakh. There’s no incentive for hospitals. Even if some does take the initiative, there’s the need to find an empanelled doctor. They could be attending their OPs or consulting patients. They again don’t have any remuneration or incentive to attend to these cases. The whole policy of organ donation depends on consideration on humanitarian grounds,” said KNOS South Zone Nodal Officer Dr Gracious Noble. A well-oiled machinery is needed to make this successful. If one unit, for example KNOS, funded by the government or individuals (recipients) can supervise all the process, these hospitals will be happy to report the cases. :