By our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, July 15 (IVC) The Union Health Ministry has appealed to the States and Union Territories to encourage donation of bodies in the event of deaths happening outside hospitals for the country was facing shortage cadavers for academic and research purposes.
In a note to the Health Secretaries , the Director General of Health Services, Atul Goel said the Union Government was committed to promoting and augmenting organ donation to save the lives of those with organ failures. In most of the cases, organ donation was feasible only from patients certified as brain stem dead (before the heart stops).
On many occasions, it was noted that organ donations were not possible in situations where deaths occurred outside the hospital, cardiac deaths occurring before the patients got admitted to intensive care unit, and deaths before the completion of brain stem death certification, the said.
Under such situations and also in deaths happening at home, body donation is possible.”The donated human bodies are required for academic and research purposes, which aids in better teaching of medical professionals. We have a shortage of human cadavers required for teaching in the country, Professor Goel said.
Asking the State Health Secretaries to instruct the stakeholders accordingly, he said, in scenarios where organ donation was not possible, the option of body donation could be explored and family members encouraged and facilitated for the same. “This will go a long way in offsetting the shortage of human cadavers in medical institutions”.
In a separate communication, the Health Ministry informed that as part of the Indian Organ Donation Day on August 03, it had been decided to organize a public awareness campaign in the name of Angdaan Jan Jagrukta Abhinyaan. “One organ donor can save up to eight or nine lives”, Union Health Secretary, Apurva Chandra said.
