Take the pledge

The expression, "one life to live" is special to me. It measures our efforts, calls out our insecurities, and generally proffers a larger meaning to the finite and highly predictable time on earth. Many thinkers who delve into life after death opine that our mortal life is actually a punishment that we undergo over and over again in our various forms, to pay off our karma and rise as higher beings in the afterlife. Whatever our beliefs may be, this life is indeed the only one that we have, and the only one that we can be sure of. Whether it's a blessing or torture, life is transient. It's also in this life that we are aware of the suffering around us. To help one another go through life is an opportunity to alleviate some of that suffering. And to help complete strangers is a rare gift. I have always felt that one of the best ways to pay forward our blessings in life is by helping the sick. And what better way than to leave the healthy remains of your anatomy to the needy. It's that one last parting gift before our final emancipation that can transform the lives of others. Sadly, in India, the concept of being organ donors is plagued with unawareness and misinformation, and dare I say, a lack of good Samaritan behaviour.

Do you know how many people are awaiting organs in India? 50,000 are waiting for a new heart, 200,000 are waitlisted for kidney transplants, and 100,000 each for liver and eye transplants. The rate of organ donors in the country is embarrassingly low. At 0.01 per cent, India ranks abysmally low in the number of people who have consented to be organ donors. If a recent change in policy comes through, it may marginally improve the rate of organ donation in India. The proposed change to the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act plans to change the definition of "death" in the death certificates. Currently, there is a mismatch between the definitions of natural and brain deaths. Unlike the latter, certificates for natural deaths say that vital organs are still alive. This deters patient families from donating the organs. News reports suggest that an amendment in the definition along with early counselling of patient families can help bridge the lacuna of organ donations in India.

In 2012, the number of multi-organ deceased donors was a dismal 196. In 2013, it was 313 donors, 2014 had 411 donors, and 2017 had 906 cadaver organ donors. While this is a three-fold increase, given the sheer size of the Indian population, the number of donors is a drop in the ocean. According to the government that cites the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation (GODT) report, India ranks third in the world in organ donation and transplantation with the total number of annual organ transplants upping to 12,746 in 2019.

But the ratio of organ donation stands at less than 0.8 per million population while in western countries it is around 30 per million with Spain, US, China, Germany, Australia, and Brazil leading the list. While Spain is leading the cause of organ donation with the highest rate of organ donation (per million population) at 46.9, USA has 31.96 rate, followed by Australia and Brazil at 20.70 and 16.60 respectively.

An estimated 500,000 lives can be saved every year in India but most Indians aren't sold on the idea of organ donation. The leading factors contributing to these poor numbers are the lack of awareness and misinformation surrounding organ donation. Take for example a survey conducted in 2019 by an insurance company, which exuded hilarious results. Almost 20 per cent of Indians believed they would be born again. Other reasons topping the list were lack of support from family, little trust in the medical system, and low transparency of the donation process. We need to bust the myths surrounding organ donation and encourage people to take the pledge. It's a simple process of online form filling on the Organ India website. It will take only 10 seconds and can be the most meaningful contribution of your life.

The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal