If you, or someone you know, are waiting for a cadaver (deceased) donor kidney transplant in Bangalore, it’s a long waiting list — 540 to be precise. With such a painfully long waiting list, not all patients are signing up for the transplant.
But they’re getting a spare kidney anyway — through the back door. Merely 0.5% of the demand for cadaver kidney transplants is met. The rest are, well, jumping the law and getting it through unrelated donors (considered illegal).
On March 11, the World Kidney Day, Soumita Majumdar spoke to Dr D Ramesh, secretary, zonal coordinating committee of Karnataka for organ transplants (ZCCK), to find out what is being done to plug the loophole.
Despite a crackdown on the illegal kidney racket in 2002 and 15 years after the Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 came into force, organ transplants from unrelated donors — specifically prohibited under the Act — continues unabated. Why is that so?
The Act does not prohibit unrelated transplantation, but it prohibits commercialisation of organs, i.e., sale of organs. Unrelated donors who are genuine and want to donate an organ on purely compassionate grounds are legally permitted to do so. But the same has to be approved by the authorisation committee set up by the state government according to Section 9(3) of the Act.
Doctors say people are exploiting Section 9(3). What is the loophole and how is it being exploited?
It would be very difficult to determine the genuineness of the donor or prove any financial transaction between the patient and the donor. When unrelated transplantations take place, it is seen that only an individual from the lower income group comes forward to donate his or her organ citing reasons of compassion and affection. There are hardly any instances of a well-to-do individual volunteering his kidney on compassionate grounds. This raises the concern that commercialisation is continuing to take place under the provisions of the act, albeit illegally.
What is ZCCK’s role in preventing illegal organ transplants?
ZCCK is actively involved in education. We conduct programmes in colleges, IT campuses and women’s organisations. We also constantly interact with the media, police, religious leaders, politicians, etc. In the hospital setting, it is a little difficult. We try and counsel families regarding brain death and organ donation with the message of saving lives. We motivate the medical staff in the hospitals to play a proactive role in this process too.
What, according to you, is the biggest challenge in cadaver
donation?
Awareness is poor. People still fail to understand that brain death is equivalent to death. Through organ donation, they can preserve at least one organ of the deceased for a few more years through someone else.
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