Press Release from Readers Digest
Reader’s Digest November issue exhorts citizens to give the “gift of life”
A huge gap exists between patients who need organ transplants and potential donors. It’s not that there aren’t enough organs to transplant. Nearly every person who dies naturally, or in an accident, is a potential donor. Even so, innumerable patients cannot find a donor. Reader’s Digest did an Asia-wide study of organ donations, and found that India lags far behind other countries in this regard. As Dr Sunil Shroff of Chennai, managing trustee of the Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network foundation, an NGO that promotes organ donation, says: “Healthy people are unaware of the sufferings of patients with organ failure.”
Dr Anant Kumar, senior consultant in urology and kidney transplantation at New Delhi’s Indraprastha Apollo Hospital and an expert in the area of organ donation, estimates that anywhere between two and three million Indians may have died in the last five years because they could not get an organ transplant.
Organ shortages are a global problem, but Asia lags behind much of the rest of the world. The organ donation rate from dead bodies in India is estimated to be a minuscule 0.05 per million people (although India has among the world’s highest number of deaths from road accidents). Hong Kong’s organ donation rate is less than 5 per million, while it’s 25 per million in the United States.
The situation is likely to get worse. As Asia’s population lives longer, organ diseases and problems like diabetes–one of the main causes of kidney failure–are expected to rise, creating even greater demand for organ donations.
Contributing to the problem are misconceptions and myths that surround organ donation. One misconception is that religions forbid organ donation and transplantation. But in fact, all major faiths support organ donation as a humanitarian act, says the Reader’s Digest article. “It is the fundamental aspect of Christianity to share life,”
observes Reverend Fr. Babu Joseph, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. “Under this premise, organ donation is viewed as a noble act.”
Hinduism and Buddhism also foster the spirit of selfless giving, says Professor Fok Tou-hui, founder of the Hong Kong Dharmasthiti Buddhist Institute. “Both put strong emphasis on charity and compassion, including what one is able to give to all sentient beings, even the parts of one’s body.” Adds Swami Agnivesh, president, World Council of Arya Samaj, “Nothing in Hinduism prohibits a person from donating his or her organs. Compassion is one of Hinduism’s highest spiritual values, and donating organs would be in accordance with our scriptures.”
All over Asia, the just-released November issue or Reader’s Digest exhorts readers to pledge their organs. The magazine has supplied Organ Donor cards that people can fill out and carry in their wallets. “The proof of willingness on your part,” says an editorial in the Indian edition, “makes it easier for you to be a donor if–God forbid–something should happen to you.”
Mohan Sivanand
Editor-in-Chief
Reader’s Digest (India Edition)
Tel: +91-9870148533