Venkaiah Naidu calls upon doctors, NGOs to make people aware of the importance of organ donation

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday called for stepping up the organ donation campaign in a big way to ensure that the rising number of organ failure cases get another shot at life.

Addressing the 29th annual conference of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation in Hyderabad, Naidu pointed out that although there is a huge requirement for donated organs in the country, only a miniscule number of patients actually get them.

“Of the 85,000 liver failure patients on the waitlist annually, less than 3% get an organ. Similarly, while two lakh kidney failure patients are registered for organ transplantation, only 8,000 get a kidney. And barely 1% get heart/lung amongst the thousands on waitlist,” he added.

The VP said that though there is a huge leap in cadaveric organ donations in the last 4-5 years,



the need has remained hugely unmet because of low rates of organ donation at 0.8 per million population whereas smaller countries like Spain and Croatia fare much better with rates of 36 per million and 32 per million, respectively.

Observing that the significant gap in India is due to cultural beliefs, traditions and ritual practices, he called upon doctors, NGOs and others to make people aware of the importance of organ donation.

The VP also urged doctors and other healthcare delivery providers to focus on preventive care and making transplantation an affordable therapy for the needy.

On lack of healthcare facilities and manpower in rural areas, he said it must be made mandatory for doctors to serve 2-3 years in rural areas before being given their first promotion.