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SharePune/Mumbai: Increasing number of brain deaths as well as a rising social awareness of the condition, a desire to do good or, perhaps, Aishwarya Rai's pledge to donate her beautiful green eyes -- attribute it to what you will, but the twin cities of Mumbai and Pune are seeing a significant rise in organ donations of brain dead persons.
While Pune has registered 10 kidney donations and two liver transplants from brain dead persons in 2009 as against 14 in the last five years, Mumbai created a record of sorts this year with 32 kidney and five liver donations from brain dead persons -- the highest in the last seven years.
But behind these statistics are stories of tough decisions taken by families of the brain dead patients.
Consider, for instance, 40-year-old Nachiket Khisti who was declared brain dead on August 10, 2009 at the KEM hospital, Pune following a cerebral stroke. His family had subsequently approached doctors to inquire about the possibility of organ donation.
"A few years ago, we had read about a little girl in Delhi, whose organs were donated after she was declared brain dead. This news report had made a big impact on my brother. This, coupled with Aishwarya Rai's eye donation appeal, made him pledge to donate his organs," said Bhagyashree, Khisti's sister. The family agreed to donate Khisti's corneas, kidneys and liver, thereby providing sight to two visually impaired persons and a fresh lease of life to two kidney patients and one liver patient.
Nachiket is one of the ten brain dead donors in Pune city in 2009 this year, signalling a spurt in brain dead (deceased) organ donations in the city.
The last brain dead (deceased) donor transplant in Mumbai, which has seen 32 donations so far, was done on September 20 at BSES Brahmakumari Hospital. Vandana Thakkar, a 53-year-old Vile Parle-resident had met with a road accident. Her sons Puneet, 28, and Tarang, 24, took what they call "the toughest decision of their lives": giving consent to donate their mother's eyes and kidneys. "Though she had not pledged her organs, she was a very giving person and would have liked it," said Tarang.
"We have never recorded so many deceased donor transplants before. The reason behind this is the high level of social awareness in Mumbai," said Vatsala Trivedi of the Zonal Transplant Co-ordinating Committee (ZTCC-Mumbai), adding that about 40 to 50% of the transplants were voluntary, which means the families approached doctors on their own with an offer to donate their brain dead relative's organs.
While there has been a spurt in deceased organ donations, there is a lot more to be done, said Rohini Sahasrabudhe, coordinator, ZTCC-Pune, citing the example of Spain, where 90% of the population has pledged to donate its organs, thanks to the aggressive media campaign by the Government of Spain and the unstinted support offered by the majority Roman Catholic Church.
According to Dr Valentine Lobo, nephrologist, KEM hospital, Pune, there are an estimated 100-150 brain deaths in Pune every year, while at least 200 brain deaths occur in Mumbai, which has 25 public and private hospitals registered with the ZTCC. These are the official centres where organs can be retrieved and transplanted.
"Given this figure, a lot more multiple organ donations should be taking place in our city. However, for this to happen, the government must mount an aggressive media campaign across the country," he said.
