Odisha shares zero per cent on organ donation: Experts

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: “Organ donation can save lives in our country but it is a sorry state on its statistical point of view that Odisha shares zero per cent on organ donation,” said the experts in an awareness programme organized by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Tuesday on the occasion of Organ Donation Day.

According to the latest Survey on Organ Transplantation and Body Donation, Odisha shares zero per cent on organ donations whereas Maharastra shares 24 per cent in it ranking highest in the country followed by Karnataka (14 per cent), Delhi (11 %), Tamil Nadu (9 %), Gujarat (6 %), Uttar Pradesh (6%), Andra Pradesh (6%), West Bengal (5%), Haryana (5%) and Kerela (3%).

Prof. Ashok Kumar Mohapatra, Director, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar who has also voluntarily donated his body in his talk ‘Organ Transplantation and Body Donation’ said body donation is a noble job as one dying patient can help in saving person with one heart, two kidney, one lung and two eyes. During 2012-13, the people have donated around 40,000 kidney, 20,000 Liver and 5000 hearts in our country, he informed saying in government hospitals kidney transplant whose practice was started in our country from 1950s costs around 2.5 lakhs, heart (1960s) costs around 1 lakhs and bone marrow (1960s) around 5 lakhs to 15 lakhs.

Besides, person with brain death can donate his organs like heart, liver and kidney as these functions except. But in physical death all organs stop functioning results to no transplantation.

As many as seven persons have pledged to donate their bodies to AIIMS here and the institution gave ‘certificates of appreciation’ to these donors on Tuesday, informed Dr. Pravash Ranjan Mishra, associate professor of Anatomy, AIIMS.

Mishra said the seven who have given their consent to offer their bodies, includes Hara Prasad Mishra, Gita Mishra, Swadesh Kumar Das, Nanda Ram Das, Dhaneswar Maharana, Seemanchal Padhee and Pratap Keshari Nayak.

In addition to these three more persons having shown interest to donate their bodies signed the required forms and made affidavits on Tuesday. These voluntary initiatives are praiseworthy as it greatly helps medical students for their studies after their death. These offers shows the trend is changing for better, he said adding there need some more awareness, motivation and education on cadaver donation.

On asked about this, director of Capital Hospital Dr. Sudhir Chandra Mallick said, “Though more people shows interest to donate their bodies here but we refuse as no guideline have not reached to us from the state government.”