Organ Exchange Between Unrelated People May Expand Organ Donation in India, Experts
Experts on Thursday stated that while allowing organ exchanges between unrelated people may increase the pool of donors, there are still hazards and policy problems.
New Delhi, June 13: Experts on Thursday stated that while allowing organ exchanges between unrelated people may increase the pool of donors, there are still hazards and policy problems. According to reports in the media on Thursday, the Centre is discussing the possibility of allowing organ exchange between unrelated individuals with NGOs and transplant physicians.
The current laws majorly allow living donations from close relatives such as parents, siblings, children, spouses, grandparents and grandchildren. In the case of unrelated or altruistic organ donations, from distant relatives, in-laws, or long-time friends, additional scrutiny is done to rule out financial exchange. Why Does India Have So Few Organ Donors?
Allowing organ exchange between unrelated individuals could significantly expand the donor pool in India, saving countless lives. Dr. Sudeep Singh Sachdev - Director and Senior Consultant Nephrology at Narayana Hospital Gurugram said, “Medically, the primary concern is the risk of organ rejection, as genetic dissimilarity increases this risk. However, advancements in immunosuppressive therapies have made transplants between unrelated donors more feasible and successful.”
On the other hand, Dr Bishnu Panigrahi, Group Head of Medical Strategy and Operations, at Fortis Healthcare stated “This will enlarge the donor pool and help patients waiting for transplants. At present India’s donation rates are very low compared to countries with good transplant numbers." However, the experts also stressed the need for strict regulatory controls.
“While the potential benefits include reduced wait times and better health outcomes for patients, the risks include higher chances of complications and the ethical dilemma of ensuring truly altruistic donations, free from coercion or financial incentives,” Dr. Sudeep added. He also called for “robust regulatory frameworks and comprehensive pre-transplant evaluations."
Dr. Bishnu further added, “We need strict regulatory controls where for such non-related transplants the authorisation committee should not be a hospital authorisation panel but an external committee where at least two must be government nominees, a lawyer of standing and a social worker. These four must be the quorum, physically present for authorisation approval". Two Families Consented to Multi-organ Donations Within 48 Hours.
However, not all experts believe in the need for altruistic organ donations in India. Dr Arvinder Soin, Chairman and Chief Surgeon at Medanta Institute of Liver Transplantation stated that although it may increase the donation rates modestly, it also opens up the possibilities of exploitation of the poor by the rich. He called for improving deceased donation rates in India, which currently stands at “a pathetic 0.7 per million compared to 38 per million in the US”.
“I believe for India, unrelated altruistic donation is not the answer to improving transplant rates at this stage. Rather, all attempts should be made to promote deceased donor organ donation by widespread government and NGO-led public campaigns, mandatory declaration of brain death in all ICUs, and required requests from families of clinically brain-dead patients. This would yield far better dividends in terms of organ availability and save thousands of more lives,” the doctor said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2024 10:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).