New Delhi: Union Health Minister J P Nadda today called for strengthening organ retrieval and transplantation facilities to bridge the gap between demand and supply of human organs.
Nadda stressed that even though people are willing to donate organs, there is lack of proper channels to do so.
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“People are ready to donate, but we have to improve the facilities. We have to strengthen infrastructure and increase the capacity to see that organ retrieval and transplantation are happening in right direction. There is a huge gap in demand and supply of human organs for transplantation,” he said.
“Today if there is a requirement of two lakh kidneys, we are able to provide only 6000-7000 donations. Again, if the requirement of liver is 30,000 we are able to do only 1500. Similarly, there is close to 50,000 people who need heart transplant but we are able to cater to only 100 people,” Nadda said on the occasion of 7th Indian Organ Donation Day.
While stressing on creating awareness among people, Nadda said that trauma centre units and ICU facilities are potential retrieval centres and they should be linked with hospitals having transplantation facility.
“Here NGOs, coordinators and counsellors can play a vital role. We need counsellors and coordinators at trauma care units and ICUs at the right time for giving the right suggestion to save a life,” he said.
(Also Read: The Critical Link To Increasing Organ Donation Rates)
Referring to the Prime Minister’s pitch for organ donation in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’, Nadda said that within a short span of one year, organ donation has turned into a mass movement.
“Even during this organ donation week, several programmes were organised that witnessed participation in large numbers. It shows people are ready to be a part of this movement. “The number of registered donors was 10,000 in March, it is now over than one lakh and it is our target to take it over 20 lakhs by 2017,” he said.
Stating that donors want that their organs go to the right person in the right time, Nadda called for upgrading the standards of transplantation.