Kolkata: Cadaver organ donation has immense potential in India but remains underutilised, a leading gastroenterologist said in Kolkata on Tuesday.
“In India, approximately 160,000 road traffic accidents happen each year out of which 95,000 can be declared dead. So you have a pool of one lakh who are dying due to brain death. Out of this, only 300 are ultimately taken up for liver or organ donation. So there is a discrepancy in the available pool and the numbers that are ultimately used,” Mahesh Kumar Goenka, Director, Institute of Gastrosciences, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals here, said.
Mr Goenka who leads the liver transplant programme at the hospital, announced the success of the first cadaver liver transplant in east India that was undertaken on July 27.
Madhuri Saha, the 46-year-old recipient of the liver, is healthy and is doing well, hospital officials said.
Family members of 53-year-old Samar Chakraborty — who was declared brain dead — assented to the procedure to transplant the liver, bequeathing a new lease of life to Saha.
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In Numbers: The Status Of Organ Donation In India
