Organ donations gain momentum in Karnataka

Karnataka is seeing increasing numbers of organ donations over the years.

While there was a major slump in 2020, the numbers have climbed back this year, with 85 donations so far. However, the state has a much larger queue of around 5,740, of those awaiting donations. Besides, many others don’t register on the list at all due to financial constraints.

On the waiting list, the demand is highest for kidneys (4,388). Another 1,153 were awaiting liver transplants.

The requirements are relatively lower for the heart (92) and lungs (36).

Some require a combination of organs; for example, 22 people are awaiting heart-and-lung transplants.

According to the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO), Karnataka now ranks second in organ donation among all South Indian states.

Dr Kumud Dhital, who leads the heart and lung transplant team at Sparsh Hospital, said the state deserves credit for this feat. However, he added that transplants of the liver, lungs and heart mostly happen in private hospitals, and not in government hospitals.

“Transplant of heart and lungs requires expert teams and good infrastructure, so it’s not instituted in large public hospitals. But kidney transplants are happening in public hospitals because of the overwhelming demand,” he said.

Dr Rajkumar Wadhwa, head of the organ transplant centre at BGS Apollo Hospital, said the high cost deters many from even registering in the state’s organ transplant registry. Though only over a thousand people have registered for liver transplants, the state has around 1.5 lakh patients with liver disease who may need a transplant at some point, said Dr Wadhwa.

“The cost of liver transplant comes to Rs 18 to 20 lakh,” he added.

Currently, the state government has a scheme to cover the cost of transplants for those below the poverty line. However, Dr Dhital says the amounts are insufficient to cover costs, and patients often have to procure further funds.

A majority of organ retrieval and transplant centres in Karnataka are concentrated in Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Mysuru.

If a hospital gets a call about a donor in another district, their team have to either travel there to retrieve the organ or bring the donor to their hospital in an ambulance. “Also, many accident victims go to small hospitals that don’t have trained counsellors to convince relatives about donation. If all district headquarters trained organ retrieval teams, the number of donations could increase,” says Dr Wadhwa.

Lack of awareness and religious beliefs are common barriers to people donating organs.

Dr Dhital said mechanisms can be put in place to remove these barriers: “India doesn’t have a proper transplant registry that captures data on the many variables of transplant surgery, such as survivorship in the long term. With transparent data, the community can see that many are surviving after transplant. Also when a person pledges organs, their family can be involved in the process to get a hard commitment.”