An attendant challenge is the shocking absence of public awareness about organ donation in India even though decades have passed since the Transplantation of the Human Organ Act came into existence. The status of organ donation is grim to say the least — around five lakh people die annually in India waiting for a transplant. There are enough organs to transplant in India as every person who dies in an accident or naturally becomes a potential donor. Even then, many patients in India cannot find a potential donor. If India’s donation rates were to be improved to one donation per million deaths, it would save so many lives. There is an urgent need to increase organ donation within the country to save as many lives as possible.
India needs a multi-pronged strategy to promote organ donation. While there is a law in place, the infrastructure for facilitating donation and transplant remains far from adequate. Given the short life-span of harvested organs, the lack of efficient delivery mechanisms and storage facilities poses a major hurdle. The administrative will to confront and resolve these challenges is also lacking — only 13 states and union territories currently contribute to the deceased donor transplantation programme, which aims to harvest functional organs from cadavers. Little wonder then that India has the poorest deceased donation rate in the world. The existing bottlenecks have led to the emergence of a thriving, illicit trade in organ donation. There is an urgent need to streamline procedures, implement a centralized, transparent online registration system for recipients, and encourage voluntary organ donation.