BANGALORE: Even as cadaver organ transplantation is popular in Western countries, the concept is yet to gain acceptance here, leading to several cases of living donor transplantation, especially for liver.

Despite best efforts by the Forum for Organ Retrieval and Transplantation and Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Organ Transplantation, Sanjay Govil, Head Surgeon, Liver Transplant at Narayana Hrudayalaya, told presspersons on Saturday there have been no organ donors from Karnataka for the last four years.

"Living donor liver transplantation has become an acceptable option following the shortfall of organs from deceased donors," he said.

In the U.S., nearly 25,000 liver transplantations take place every year and over 90,000 patients wait for organ donations, as living donor liver transplantation, which was popular till 2000-2001, is not favoured now. It is not only in Karnataka that cadaver transplantations are not popular. Even advanced societies such as Taiwan, Japan and Korea baulk at cadaver transplantations due to religious reasons. Dr. Sanjay Govil said: "Shintoism followed in Japan and other countries is against cadaver transplantations." As for Hong Kong, while its outlook favours cadaver transplantations, the limited number of fatalities in road accidents makes it difficult to add up the numbers.

He, however, pointed out that India has potential for cadaver transplantations as religious practices here do not bar them, and that awareness among physicians and the public, along with creation of infrastructure, is the need of the hour.

According to Ashley D'Cruz, Head of Paediatric Department at Narayana Hrudayalaya, the response of relatives for organ donation of patients who have suffered brain death is also poor. "In every 10 cases that we try to convince the relatives, only one agrees for organ donation, which works out to around 10 per cent whereas the conversation rate is around 45 per cent in countries such as U.K. and U.S."

Dr. D'Cruz said that the medical fraternity and the NGOs in Bangalore were trying to revive the concept of cadaver transplantations among the public through education. He said, "The misconception about organ transplantation should be removed, as the Organ Transplantation Act of 1994 has enough safeguards put in place against any misuse."

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