Despite steps taken by the government to promote cadaver organ donation in the capital,the gap between demand and supply is only widening,data obtained from AIIMS show. According to figures published in the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Anaesthesia,in the past five years,of the 205 patients declared brain dead at the AIIMS Trauma Centre,only 10 became potential organ donors. The AIIMS Trauma Centre,which admits over 6,500 patients every year,analysed the number of cadaver organ donations which took place between September 2007 and August 2012. Chief of AIIMS Trauma Centre Dr M C Misra said,Despite posting counsellors round the clock in our neurosurgery ICU to make families aware of the need to donate a kins organs,the number of donors remains low. AIIMS officials said the families of most of the brain-dead patients refused to give their consent. The study,authored by Dr Chhavi Sawhney and Dr Babita Gupta of the anaesthesia department and senior resident Dr Sanjeev Lalwani of the forensic science department,said,Though we had ample number of brain dead patients,the actual number of organ donations was very low. The reasons were lack of consent,procedural problems,patients not counselled,too unstable for donation,age and co-morbidities. According to law,doctors are obligated to take the family members consent before retrieving organs,even if the brain-dead patient has pledged his or her organs. The authors said the high familial refusal rate to give consent for organ procurement was mostly due to superstitions,apart from emotional and religious reasons. People think that if they donate an organ,they will be born without it in the next life. There is a need to engage religious leaders,to help spread the message of organ donation, Dr Misra said. Many also refuse due to emotional reasons the trauma of losing a loved one. This is where the role of counsellors become crucial, he said. Medical reasons which may arise during the surgical retrieval of organs also act a barrier. The study also outlines essential protocols that need to be maintained to ensure the donated organs are properly retrieved . According to the study, 90 per cent of the donors were middle-aged males. The cause of brain death in 70 per cent of cases were injuries sustained in road accidents. Twenty per of patients were declared brain-dead after falling from heights and 10 per cent were gored by bulls.
