Women less keen to receive organs, but rush to donate: Docs

When it comes to donating an organ to give a new lease of life, women trump men in being donors, say organ transplant experts. This was re-emphasised in a report published in the Indian Journal of Nephrology, which said in spousal kidney donation, wives constituted about 87% of all spousal donors and the trend is evident across India.

Dr Bharat Shah, director of renal science department in Global hospital in Mumbai, who also runs the NGO Narmada Kidney Foundation, said, "It is true that in organ transplantation we find that around 75-80% donors are women."

Dr Jatin Kothari, nephrologist at PD Hinduja Hospital in Mahim, agreed that in live donor kidney transplantation disparities exist among certain groups, including women. "In our practice, we have found that 87% women are less likely to want to be recipients and undergo live donor kidney transplant, when compared with men. However, when it comes to donating, more than 90% of the time it is the women in the family who come forward to give their kidneys," said Kothari.

Doctors in Delhi's leading hospitals estimate that around 80% of all kidney transplant recipients in the city are men, while a similar proportion of donors are women — a fact that, say doctors, mirrors the countrywide trend. Higher incidence of kidney disease in men, fear of losing the earning male member, and perception of renal donation as an extension of responsibility toward family have been suggested as reasons for the preponderance of women among living donors.