Noble harvest

If a proposal from the Union health ministry to the Delhi government goes through,then anyone applying for a driving licence in the capital will also have to state if he or she would be willing to donate organs after death. The suggestion,one among the many to address the enormous scarcity of organs for transplant in the country,was part of a standing committee report on the Transplantation of Human Organs Amendment Bill,which was passed in August this year. Delhi is likely to be the testing ground for the idea,before implementation across the country.

India is following the example of countries such as the UK and the US that already have a box in their driving licences where people express their willingness or otherwise to donate organs. In fact,it was only this summer that the UK made it mandatory in licence applications. The outcomes are many: for one,it gives an opportunity to sign up,to declare ones willingness to donate organs. In a country where the number of cadaver donation per million is just 0.3,it could,in the event of brain death,alert authorities that organs can be harvested without damaging delay. Among the many who are unsure of cadaver donation,this requirement will at least help start a conversation.

However,addressing this crisis in our healthcare requires quick and effective implementation of other provisions of the act as well like creating a national registry,intensifying a national campaign to spread awareness. In Tamil Nadu,a model state in cadaver donation where the statistic is 1.3 per million,what has worked,among other things like the immediate identification of brain deaths and effective organ retrieval and maintenance,is the success of trained transplant coordinators who hand-hold and counsel grieving families. The final goal of presumed consent is some distance away,but this statement of consent on the licence could be a beginning.