FOUR OUT of five organ recipients in India between 1995 and 2021 were men, according to data collated by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) — numbers which indicate the prevailing gender disparity among those seeking healthcare. Out of the total 36,640 patients who underwent the transplants, 29,695 were men, according to the data available on gender break-up. “What the data of recipients shows is that the number of women undergoing transplants is disproportionately low. We have to assume that prevalence of conditions leading to the need for transplants affects men and women at a similar rate. If women who need transplants are not getting treated, it is definitely an issue,” said Dr Anil Kumar, director, NOTTO. “There is a need to create more awareness to reverse the trend.” Although studies show that the number of women donors is higher, apparently because families want to protect earning male members, Dr Kumar said there are enough safeguards within the law to ensure that consent is not forced upon them. Dr Anupam Sibal, paediatric liver transplant surgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said, “There is definitely a gender bias when it comes to recipients as well as donors.” The senior surgeon, who is involved in Apollo’s liver transplant programme that was started in 1998, however, said the gender gap among donors is narrowing, largely because of counselling. “If we look at data from our programme, 75% of the donations came from moms and 25% from dads till about 2021. The trend is changing and now 51% of the donations come from moms and 49% from dads,” Dr Sibal said. “While women by nature are more willing donors, who do not think too much about their own recovery, the increase in donations from men has happened through counselling. They tend to have more questions and it is our job to make them feel comfortable donating the organ.” When it comes to recipients, Dr Sibal said, “As a doctor, my question is why should gender matter? If a person needs a transplant, they should get it. But the fact is when it comes to surgeries such as transplants — or even open heart surgery or surgery to correct congenital defects in children — more men than women receive it. Again, awareness is key to changing this trend.” “Take for example, parents of a girl child in need of a liver transplant are worried whether she will have normal puberty, and whether she will be able to have babies. And, when they learn that she will be able to live a normal life, they are willing to get the transplant,” he said. According to the NOTTO data, there has been an overall increase in the number of transplants in the country, with a record high of 16,041 such procedures in 2022. Among living donor transplants, where organs from family members are used, Delhi topped the table with 3,422 transplants, overtaking Tamil Nadu (1,690 transplants). Tamil Nadu, however, remained the leader in another category — that of deceased donor transplants where organs from brain-dead patients are used — with 555 transplants in 2022. There were 243 heart transplants in 2022, the highest so far, and 144 lung transplants.
