Life at risk, but patients reluctant to accept organs due to COVID fear

CHENNAI: The number of organ donations in the State has declined by more than 50 per cent this year due to lockdown and fear about the risk of coronavirus transmission.

Last year, 774 organs were harvested from 121 persons. But in contrast, only 39 cadaver organ were there this year as lockdown was imposed in March. As per the data available with the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN), 6,310 patients are currently on the organ waitlist in Tamil Nadu, including 5,810 waiting for kidney transplants and 468 patients awaiting liver transplant.

As the pandemic is a healthcare crisis, people need proof that a death was not because of COVID-19 before considering transplant, said Dr Madhu Sankar, senior consultant and head of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery, heart and lung transplant at Fortis Malar.

“People are scared to donate or receive. Even the relatives have to be checked for the infection. The checklist for the ideal organ donor has increased and the fear of contracting the virus is manifold. Thus organ donations have taken a hit. Awareness programmes by government and private sector are needed to motivate more people to support safe organ donation during the pandemic because are a large number of patients awaiting transplantation of various organs,” said Dr Madhu.

With pandemic being the primary focus, organ donations have taken a back seat, admitted senior officials from TRANSTAN. “As the number of cases of COVID-19 in the State are coming down, we hope that organ donations will get back to normalcy. There is no point in increasing the rate of organ donations if it is unsafe,” said the official.

A majority of the patients who are awaiting kidney transplant are dependent on dialysis. As these patients are more vulnerable, they have to be checked for COVID-19, too. “Organ donations have declined significantly, as it is unsafe to receive or donate organs because the hospitals are treating COVID-19 patients. As long as pandemic poses a threat of infection, it is risky to accept or donate the organs. Thus, even the recipients are hesitating to receive the organs. The cost of hospitalisation is also higher,” said Sunil Shroff, founder of The Mohan Foundation, an organisation that maintains organ donation registry in the State.

Private healthcare providers said the transplantations were likely to increase after the restrictions on national and international travel are relaxed.

The checklist for the ideal organ donor has increased and the fear of contracting the virus is manifold

—Madhu Sankar, Doctor