Body language that few understand

HYDERABAD: Do you know that if a body of a dead person is donated quickly enough, it could give a new lease of life to 18 others? Even a living person, for that matter, could donate his/her kidney, one fourth of the liver and of course, blood. But how does one go about this? The answer from many would be a simple shrug of the shoulders. Even if one were to take the trouble to approach a hospital, the procedures are varied and confusing as Prof GV Sudhakar (retd), who had worked at the Osmania Medical College, found to his dismay. “When a donor passes way, there are problems in collecting and shifting the dead body to medical institutions. When my father died, I had to take the body myself to the Osmania Medical Hospital as it was my father’s wish. I received absolutely no help from anyone,” he recalls.Dr B Babu Rao of the Osmania Medical College agrees. “There is no uniformity of rules and procedures among the medical institutions in the State. The government has to take the initiative to put in place a proper system,” he opines.According to him, a staggering 60 per cent of the organs and dead bodies donated do not reach the medical institutions! For one thing, the institutions do not have facilities like enough number of ambulances and freezers. So even if the bodies were donated, they do not reach the needy in time.Savitribai Phule Educational and Charitable Trust chairperson G Sita Mahalakshmi, who is also the convener of the AP Body Donors’ Association, elaborates further on the issue. “There are no awareness programmes and literally, nothing to motivate people from the government side. There are not even guidelines, support system or regular audits or monitoring of body donation trusts,” she points out.The Phule Trust has appealed to Governor ESL Narasimhan and the medical and health department to enact a law on body donation, she explains.The AP Body Donors’ Association has also been demanding that the State government present awards to those who donate body parts. “Research wings in all the medical institutions (about 25 public and private institutions in the state) could set up body banks like blood and eye banks to preserve them. The government should also maintain a register of donors specifying the number of bodies offered and received by trusts in the State. The system should be made transparent. Technology and infrastructure, which is needed, should be developed for the collection and preservation of dead bodies,” Sita Mahalakshmi says.It’s not as if no one is coming forward to donate organs or offer their own bodies. M Ramesh, a researcher at the Osmania University, says, “I donated blood 25 times. Each time, I gave 350 ml and I would like to donate my body also to medical institutions.”Sammanna, a lecturer, also echoes the same views. “I was surprised when I learnt that my body could benefit 18 others. I’ve decided to donate my body but I don’t know where to go,” he admits. The ignorance, coupled with poor infrastructure in hospitals, may not mean much for many, but for several patients, it spells death.