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• Approximately 5 lakh people die every year due to unavailability of organs!

• There is only one hospital per 43 lakh people in India to handle organ donation and transplantation. It is almost impossible for one hospital to handle the requirements of the staggering number of people it has to cater to.

• Only 2-3% of the demand for organs is met and many people die of organ failure while waiting for a transplant on the waiting list.

• Every year, following number of people need organ/tissue transplant as per organ specified:  

            1)   Kidney – 2,50,000                  2) Liver – 50,000

            3)   Heart – 50,000                       4) Cornea- 1,00,000

• 90% of people in the transplantation waiting list die without getting an organ!
  

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only about 0.01 percent in India donate their organs after death, while in Western countries around 70-80 percent of people pledge their organs.
  When compared to other countries, India still has a long way to go.

• Lack of understanding of concept of brain stem death: when a person is declared brain dead, it is challenging for the family to accept the death as the body is warm and the heart is beating while the patient is kept on the ventilator. Brain death is often confused with a comatose state and the family harbours optimism of the patient recovering. Hence it becomes difficult to explain to the family and organ donation requires family consent, therefore, the donation is not able to occur.

• Several myths revolve around organ donation, a major one being that if one donates organs, they may be born without that organ in the next life.
• Lack of education and awareness among the relatives of the brain-dead patient, lack of awareness among the public about organ donation, organ donor cards and procedure of organ donation add to the misconceptions associated with organ donation in our country and makes it a difficult task.

• Living Donor: Any person above 18 years of age, who voluntarily allows the removal of any of their organ and/or tissue, during their lifetime, as per current medical practices and conditions for therapeutic purposes. 
  

• Deceased Donor: Anyone, regardless of age, race or gender can become an organ and tissue donor after their Death (Brainstem/Cardiac). Consent of a near relative or a person in lawful possession of the dead body is essential. If the deceased donor is under the age of 18 years, then the consent required from one of the parents or any near relative authorized by the parents is important. Medical suitability for donation is determined by the clinician at the time of death.