Centrally regulated donor system needed

February 23, 2006

Ramya Kannan

"It is sad that there are a lot of organs that are just wasted because the donors are not identified"

CHENNAI: A centrally regulated organ donor system to identify cadavers and streamline their transplantation in patients with organ failure should be set in place, John Wallwork, heart-lung transplant surgeon and Director of Transplant Service, Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, has said.

"If you are going to do serious transplantation in India, you have to get your donor system organised. It is sad that there are a lot of organs that are just wasted because the donors are not identified," Wallwork said.

He has the distinction of being involved in the world's first heart-lung transplant 21 years ago and later, in the first heart, lung and liver transplant surgery. The surgeon was in the city recently to participate in the symposium `Heart Failure: Comprehensive Management' organised by the National Network for Organ Sharing along with Sri Ramachandra Medical College, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Ohio State University.

Prof. Wallwork said the key to a successful programme was getting donors in place. That, along with treating patients for good long-term results, would be the challenges.

The West organised its system when patients kept dying of chronic organ failure. In the U.K., where he works, a centrally organised set up existed and it was run nationally, with one donor control centre.

However, the West too had its share of problems. "We have fewer donors than before. Laws governing seat belt usage and drunken driving have reduced the number of deaths to a large extent." On an average, he said, patients had to wait about six months before an organ was found.

Moral considerations

Will legislation, as in Spain and Singapore, that allowed the State to harvest organs of a brain dead person unless the person had objected to it, solve the donor crisis? "Even if it were legally possible, there are moral and ethical considerations," he explained.

On the other hand, he suggested efforts be made to identify every potential donor.

Copyright © 2006 The Hindu.

This article posted March 12, 2006