The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : The case for cadaver transplants

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Wednesday, Jul 29, 2009
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

The case for cadaver transplants

Deepika Arwind

BANGALORE: A few years ago after Amanjeet Sethi had a heart attack, she was put on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit of a private hospital despite the dismal prediction that she was not going to survive. While she lay in the ICU for eight long days, her family outside debated what needed to be done once the inevitable decision was taken — when the hospital declared her brain dead. As they asked hospital authorities if donating her organs would be possible, the hospital lay out a number of legal procedures in front of them, in what the families say was an “uncooperative manner”, almost discouraging them. “We decided against cadaver transplant,” says Mr. Sethi. “We were too upset to take on what seemed like endless legal hurdles, and the hospital’s attitude did not help.”

Not yet a fully accepted practice, doctors and even expectant recipients will tell you that cadaver transplant requires a level of awareness that we have only inched towards. Jency Anthony of the Zonal Committee for Cadaver Transplant in Karnataka (ZCCK) confirms this.

According to her, issues such as maintaining the donor’s health, informing and counselling are all issues that require procedure. “The hospital cannot suddenly begin discussing organ donation in a hospital out of the blue,” says Ms. Anthony. In the area of policy too, says Ms. Anthony, much can be done to change the situation. “Take Tamil Nadu for example — it is mandatory for all hospitals in Chennai to certify the brain-dead person to the cadaver transplant committee so talks with the family can begin,” she says.

According to ZCCK statistics, in a span of six months from January to July 2009, there have been 22 cadaver transplants in Chennai, and 11 from mid-2007 to July 2009. “We try to spread awareness, but an intensive awareness programme needs to be taken up by the State. Meanwhile, doctors say those who are supportive of organ donation are those who have been recipients and have been agents of awareness themselves.

People’s mindset

Meanwhile, there other problematic areas such as “the inherent mindset” woven into our social fabric. G.K. Venkatesh, Director of Nehpro-Urology, says that one of the things they notice is the hesitation on the part of many families, when it comes to “tampering” with the bodies of their loved ones. “If eye donation is catching up so well, there is no reason why donation of all organs cannot,” he says.

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