CHAPTER-I

INTRODUCTION

"Live life after death - pledge to donate your body.”

― Amit Abraham

Organ donation is defined as “giving an organ or part of an organ to be transplanted

into another person” (Organ procurement of Transplant Network (OPTN), 2015), organ
donation has the potential to save lives. The organs donated from one single donor can save
up to eight lives. Organ transplantation may be one of the options left to sustain someone’s
life. Organ donation is a process in which a person willingly donates an organ of his body to
another person. Furthermore, it is the process of allowing the removal of one’s organ for its
transplanting in another person. Moreover, organ donation can legally take place by the
consent of the donor when he is alive. Also, organ donation can also take place by the assent
of the next of kin of a dead person. There has been a significant increase in organ donations
due to the advancement of medical science.1

It has been reported that 25 different organs/tissues can be donated by humans

checking psychiatric, and medical fitness of donars.2 According to Organ procurement of
Transplant Network (OPTN, 2015), the organs donated from one single donor can save up to
eight lives.3 The most commonly transplanted solid organs are kidneys, liver and heart, while
cornea and musculoskeletal grafts are the most commonly transplanted tissues.4 The rate of
organ transplantation have increased gradually in the last two decades and give outstanding
results in children and young adults, but are challenged by the increasing population of
elderly transplant patients with co morbidity.

For patients with end-stage organ failure, an organ transplantation is a well-

established and often the only life-saving treatment.5 The WHO Global Observatory on
Donation and Transplantation recently estimated that over 130,000 solid organ
transplantations were performed across the globe in 2017, which represents less than 10% of
the global need.6

According to the International Registry in Organ Donation and Transplantation

(IRODaT), the countries with the highest number of deceased organ donations in 2019 were
Spain, the USA, France, the United Kingdom and Australia, with 48.9 per million population
(pmp), 36.88 pmp, 33.25pmp, 24.88 pmp and 22.17 pmp, respectively. The countries with the
lowest numbers of organ transplantations in contrast were China (4.43 pmp), Thailand (3.66
pmp), Japan (0.75 pmp), and India (0.65 pmp).6

The demand for organ transplantation worldwide has risen exponentially in the last
two decades due to the increasing incidences of non-communicable illnesses, especially
diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Since these metabolic disorders have been found to be
associated with multiple organ failure, organ transplantation is recognized as a life-saving
procedure for patients with potentially terminal illnesses. The steeply increasing gap between
patients who need transplantation and the availability of eligible donors is a major cause for
concern which requires multisegmented approaches.7

Organ transplantation has been an accepted mean of treating patients with severe
organ failure in India for nearly five decades. However, the organ donation rate of people
who have died in India is very low (0.26 per million population), and this low rate partly
contributes to the deaths of 500,000 people every year due to lack of available organs.8

The issue of organ donation is complex and multi-factorial, involving medical, legal,
ethical, organizational, and social factors.9 Countries around the world have reported that
people’s attitude towards organ donation is influenced by factors such as knowledge,
education, and religion.10

Organ shortages are a global problem, but Asia lags behind much of the rest of the
world. There is a huge shortage of organs in India, and patients die while on the waiting list
as they do not get an organ on time. Conversely, with 70 per cent of India's 1.4 lakh accident
victims diagnosed as brain dead annually, the country has 80,000 potential organ donors. Yet,
organs from only about 120 are retrieved, making the percentage of cadaver donations a
dismal 0.08 per million of the population. Thus, current organ donation from cadavers in
India is very less compared to Spain which tops the list with 35 per million. Lack of
awareness and improper infrastructure facilities along with myths and misconceptions
associated with organ donation are the main reasons behind the low percentage of organ
donation.11

In the last decade, India has significantly advanced in the field of living donor organ
transplantation. However, compared to many developed countries, it lags miles behind in the
cadaveric organ transplant. As per the Global observatory on donation and transplantation
(GODT) data 7443 organs were donated in India 2021 while globally there were 129,681
organ donations.12

Even though the number of organ donation has increased there is still a huge gap
between demand and supply of organs due to various reasons. 13 The major reasons for this is
unawareness about organ donation, inability to know about the process, myths about donation
of organs etc. To improve the attitude towards the organ donation, it's imperative that youth
of country is appropriately educated and made aware so that eventually goals for higher
donation rates could be achieved. This can happen only if the health care workers and front
line workers have knowledge about donation of organs as they are the persons who are in
direct contact with potential clients for donation of organs. Various studies have reported that
awareness about organ donation is still not up to the mark. 14,15

While lack of awareness and negative attitude toward organ donation could be
possible reasons for the gap between the need and availability of organs. Lack of awareness
about the concept of brain death, religious attitudes, superstition related to rebirth, fear of
misuse of organs, health risks due to organ donation, and lack of consensus among family
members have been identified as potential barriers for successful implementation of organ
donation program in India.16

Students form a large proportion of present and future population of India and health
science students are the ones who remain in direct contact with the population. They are the
one who can help counsel parents and their relatives to make them aware to take decision
about donation of organs. Thus the current study is planned to assess the knowledge attitude
and practise of the college students about organ donation who could play a key role in
shaping public opinion and nurture a more favourable attitude towards organ donation.
References

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3. K Job Antony A Organ Donation and Transplantation: “Life after

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5. WHO. WHO Task Force on Donation and Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues.
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6. Transplantation IRiODa. International Registry in Organ Donation and Transplantation.

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12. GODT. [Internet]. GODT [cited 2022 Apr 18].

13. Directorate General Of Health Services [Internet]. [cited 2022 Apr 20].

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