ORGAN DONATION

On a lazy afternoon in May 2010 I came across a statistic that changed my thinking drastically. On an average 300 Indians die daily waiting for the organ transplantation. On searching for more information I came to know that even if less than one per cent of potential donors donate their organs after their death not a single person in India would ever die because of same reason. My heart filled with grief to know that one lakh people die annually in India only because, there is no awareness about the organ donation among public practically exist.It’s not like that people don’t want to do it, it’s just that they don’t know much about it and thus skeptical about it. Also absence of any direct incentive adds to the factor as to why people choose to remain ignorant about such important issue.

Importance of the this problem can be highlighted with the fact that the number of Indians dying daily waiting for organ transplantation by far outweighs the number of people killed in the 2008 terrorist attacks. It’s high time now and we should tackle this problem seriously.

Now the question arises, what could we do. There are two ways by which one can support this cause.
One: by pledging his own organs and second: by spreading awareness about the cause. Spreading organ donation awareness has multiplier effect. You can give information to ten people, they will in turn tell to ten people and so on and chain continues.And if it works in this way, soon we will have a world where no one would ever die waiting for an organ. It is as simple as it appears. Together we can make a difference, a huge impact.

Awareness begins with clearing out some general myths about organ donation as listed below:

1.        Organs are retrieved after a person’s death.
 
2.        Only organs consented and specified will be retrieved.
 
3.        Organs are retrieved surgically and no disfigurement occurs to the body.
 
4.       Potential organ donors are those who are brain dead. It means their brain has stopped working and there is no scope of the person getting back to life ever. As per the law it must be confirmed by four doctors on two occasions,at least six hours apart.
 
5.        Brain dead is death and not coma.
 
6.       There are 0.00003% chances that we become a potential organ donor even after we pledge our organs.
 
7.        Fact: During our life span, each one of us has more chance of requiring an organ transplant than being a donor!!!

One can save up to ten lives. Just think about the impact supporting this cause would make to the society. How many sons and how many daughters would not meet an untimely end before the eyes of their parents. We can prevent that from happening. We have the power. Only God has the power to save lives. Here we have an opportunity to do what only God could do till now. Let’s save lives, let’s make this world a better place.

We must not wait for the moment till someone of our own faces such problem; instead we should kill this problem before it affects any of us. Because if any one of us ever in our life faces this problem we won’t be able to do anything about it. It takes time to change the thinking of the whole society. The sooner we start the better.

People ask me why they should donate their organ. I ask them why they ever donate anything, 2coin to a handicapped beggar, Rs 10 at the temple, old books and cloths. Why do we donate? Does we donate because we expect anything in return, does it makes us feel better about ourselves, does it because of the fact that we know the other person deserves something more than what he has now or just for the sheer satisfaction of giving. Think about it.

And believe me, after donating my organs death doesn’t seem to be that bad to me.

By the way, approximately 3 Indians would have died waiting for an organ in the time you read this article.