World Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation is being celebrated on November 4 by NGO GLODAS (Gift of Life Organ Donation Awareness Society) in collaboration with Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. Dr Baldev Singh Aulakh, Professor, Urology, and Head, Transplant Unit, DMCH, who is also president of GLODAS informed that organ transplantation was a life-saving surgery.

There is a huge gap between demand and supply as far as organ transplant is concerned. In most countries, there are thousands of people on organ transplant waiting lists at any given time. Sadly, many of them die waiting. An organ or a tissue transplant can significantly improve the quality of life of the recipient and sometimes it is the only hope of survival for the patient.

Dr Aulakh further elaborated organ donation can happen when a deceased donor can give eyes, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, heart, intestinal organs and a living donor can give a kidney, or a part of the liver, lung, intestine, or pancreas. Donated tissues like skin, bone and heart valves from people who have previously committed to donation can improve the quality of life for recipients and even save lives.

According to Dr Aulakh, there are various misperceptions that hinder donor registration like - people erroneously believe that a person can recover from ‘brain death’. Some people think doctors may not try very hard to save their lives if they know about their wish to be a donor, superstitious belief that the dead body without the vital organs is incomplete and the dead person will not ‘rest in peace’. Many people, who wish to donate their organs and tissues are not sure that they will be acceptable as donors. Actually, age or health conditions should not prevent people from becoming potential donors