Mumbai: With a 42-year-old brain-dead woman donating her lungs, liver, and kidneys at Jaslok Hospital, the number of cadaver organ donations in Mumbai has surpassed last year’s figure of 50. This year alone, the organ donations have provided a new lease on life to 147 patients.
“It is heartening to see cadaver organ donations in the city steadily improving. We have also seen seven bone donations, along with sixteen cornea and two skin donations this year,” said Dr Bharat Shah, general secretary of the zonal transplant coordination committee (ZTCC). He added that the focus remains on improving donations in public hospitals.
“We’re working to make public hospitals more active participants in this programme. While donations are rising, the list of patients awaiting transplants remains extensive,” he said.
In Maharashtra, over 8,200 patients with life-threatening conditions are currently registered and waiting for organ transplants. End-stage kidney disease patients make up the majority of this list, followed by those awaiting liver and heart transplants.
“The gap between the demand for cadaver organs and the available supply is still vast. We are conducting awareness programmes to educate the public and dispel myths surrounding it. We’ve also been working closely with intensivists and neurologists across the city to improve brain-death identification in hospitals,” added Dr Shah.
Last year, ZTCC began promoting bone and other tissue donations by encouraging transplant coordinators to increase awareness around these types of donations. Donated bones are essential for patients who have lost bone tissue due to conditions like bone cancer, necrosis, or require reconstruction and fusion surgeries.
“There was a time when even heart donations were rare. Today, bone and skin donations are still uncommon,” said Dr Shah. “We’re collaborating with hospitals to spread awareness about these donations.”
Dr Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, former head of the tissue bank at Tata Memorial Hospital, noted an increase in bone donations in the city. With a new tissue bank in Goregaon and a retrieval specialist, bone donation has a more structured system.
“Unlike other organs, bone donations lacked a well-defined retrieval team. Now, with these resources, we anticipate more bone donations, which are crucial for many orthopedic procedures, including revision hip and knee surgeries,” she explained.
