The city recorded its 30th organ donation on Tuesday after an 80-year-old brain dead patient gave a new lease on life by donating his liver to a patient at Global Hospital in Parel.
Officials from the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) said organ donation is rising in the city as people are now not hesitating to donate or accept organs. While last year witnessed 30 donations, this year until October 19, 30 have already been done. The number is expected to be higher by the year-end.
In Mumbai, as per ZTCC, 3,325 patients are waiting for cadaver kidneys, while 328 are waiting for cadaver livers. The waitlist for small bowel is seven, pancreas is 12, heart 28 and lungs is nine. As many as six are waiting for both heart and lung transplant and five patients are awaiting donated hands.
Dr S K Mathur, the president of ZTCC, said there was a significant reduction in the number of transplants owing to the lockdown. In fact, the transplant programme stopped during nationwide lockdown as doctors feared that SARS-CoV-2 infection could be missed in both donors and recipients owing to the sensitivity issues with the RT-PCR test. Additionally, in the immediate post-operative period and after hospital discharge, transplanted patients have increased susceptibility to the infection owing to induction therapy and immuno-suppressive treatment. As a result, even patients were reluctant to accept organs, particularly kidneys, as they have an alternative in the form of dialysis.
