"Honour organ donors"

HT Correspondent

New Delhi

September 15, 2004

Organs donors need to be brought into sharper focus in the Transplantation of Human Organs Rules of 1995. The Rules have provisions for ensuring safety and the standard of life for the donor. However, these provisions are often overlooked, say experts.

"Mostly, it's the patient's health concerns that is given importance after a transplant. Everyone forgets the donor. If it's an unrelated donor, the law should make it mandatory that the patient's family and the hospital take care of the donor's health concerns. That would just be honouring the donor,'' says Dr Harsh Johri, chairman of the renal transplant department at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

Dr Johri is also in the committee constituted by the Delhi High Court to review the provisions of the rules.

He added that even in the cases of cadaver donations, a similar rule could be introduced.

"The dead person's family could be given some financial compensation. This kind of a provision would increase the number of donors in the country. Everyone, rich or poor, would carry donor cards,'' Dr Johri said.

Dr Johri, who's been a transplant surgeon for 20 years, said only 3,500 transplants are done in India every year but nearly half a million people in India die of organ failure.

"If the act is not able to fulfill the needs of the course, it should either be tightened or loosened, as the need be," he said.

Copyright © 2004 The Hindu Times.

This article posted October 20, 2004.