Mumbai: There has been a 43.75% rise in cadaver donations in Mumbai this year compared to the last two years. As per the data, the city has witnessed 46 cadaver donations so far this year, as compared to 32 in 2021 and 30 in 2020. In 2019, Mumbai saw 76 organ donors. Health officials said during the pandemic there were many protocols due to which cadaver donations had stopped but now everything is getting back to normal.
Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee ZTCC General Secretary Dr Bharat Shah said several initiatives have been undertaken due to which cadaver donation has gone back to levels of the pre-pandemic era. Moreover, many sensitisation programs have been undertaken to increase numbers with a focus on government and municipal hospitals where the numbers are still low.
“The ZTCC plans to create more awareness on cadaver donations and find younger cadaver donors. Most of the donors have been aged above 60. Most of the time, these organs are unfit for donation,” he said.
The latest among the 2022 cadaver donations was on Dec 12, wherein a 58-year-old brain-dead man's family donated his kidney. His other organs were unfit for donation.
The ZTCC had also formed sub-committees of intensivists, neurologists and neurosurgeons who meet every month to help and guide each other in improving organ donation in the city. The committee also lays emphasis on bone and other tissue donations. This year, after a gap of three years, the city saw bone donation in Nanavati Hospital-Vile Parle on Aug 22. A donated bone is used for patients with bone deficiency or in bone reconstruction procedures. Bone and tissue donations help individuals with orthopaedic and neurological conditions that cause bone death and degradation.
“While officials speak to the relatives, they talk about tissue donations too. Donating a heart, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas and intestine is now common. Even hands are being donated. We are now trying to raise awareness of the fact that many tissues can be donated. This includes skin, bones, ligaments etc,” said Dr Shah.
MUMBAI WAIT LIST
Organ Requirement
Kidney 3,325
Liver 328
Small bowel 7
Pancreas 12
Heart 28
Lungs 9
Heart & lungs 6
