Explained: What is Organ Donation?
Organ donation in India helps save lives, but low awareness, family hesitation, and limited facilities remain major challenges.
Organ donation, in simple terms, means giving a part of one’s body to help someone whose organ has failed. In India, organ donation is legally allowed both during a person’s lifetime and after death, offering a chance to save or improve many lives.
While alive, a person can donate one kidney, a portion of the liver, and in some cases, bone marrow. These donations are possible because the body can continue to function with one kidney, and the liver has the ability to regenerate.
After death, especially in cases of brain death, several vital organs can be donated, including the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and intestines. Apart from organs, tissues such as corneas, skin, heart valves, and bones can also be donated to help patients in need.
The process of organ donation involves carefully preserving the organs after removal using special solutions and transporting them quickly to transplant centres. Brain death, which is legally recognised in India, plays a key role in this process, as it allows doctors to retrieve organs while the heart is still functioning with medical support.
The system for organ donation in India is managed by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization, which maintains waiting lists and ensures fair allocation based on urgency, compatibility, and waiting time.
Despite having a structured system, India’s organ donation rate remains low, at around 0.8 per million people, compared to countries like the United States, where the rate is significantly higher. Lack of awareness, hesitation among families, and limited medical infrastructure are some of the major challenges.
Transporting organs on time is another difficulty, although special “green corridors” are sometimes created to ensure quick movement through traffic. One organ donor can save up to eight lives and improve many more through tissue donation.
In recent years, awareness around organ donation has been increasing in India through campaigns and real-life stories. However, the demand still far exceeds the number of donors. It is also important to note that buying and selling of organs is strictly illegal in India.
