Theme 3 - Organ Donation - Impact and Elimination of the Crisis
Organ donation is a medical success story. It
is one of the greatest techniques known to mankind - a tool to pragmatically
defeat death. Every year, thousands of lives are saved thanks to this miracle
of modern medicine but many more thousands are added to a National Transplant
Waiting List. Patients on this list are waiting for months, even years at times
before they receive the right organ. Time is ticking fast. The more months they
spend on the list without a matching organ donor, the more closer they are
getting towards death.
Organ donation is the most priceless gift of all
- the gift of life. A single organ donor
can save the life of upto 75 people - imagine how many lives will be directly
impacted by this act - hundreds? Thousands? Perhaps even more - parents of a
child patient, children of an adult patient, significant others, uncles, aunts,
grandparents - saving even one soul has the potential to help so many others
linked to him lead a better life. But saving as many as 75 patients - we all
have the ability to make the world a better place.
A study by Sharp and Randhawa (2014) explored
such a perspective of organ donation as a form of altruism or the belief in
self-less service of others. It views the organ donated as a “gift” to the
recipient. Although the actual decision to donate is subjected to a number of
social and cultural norms, registering as a donor is promoted by this feeling
of altruism.
The beauty of organ donation lies in the fact
that there are no social or economic boundaries to become a donor. Organs are never matched on the basis of
“race, gender, income, celebrity or social status”. The compatibility is
strictly based on medical parameters to ensure the safety and vitality of both
the donor and recipient. Becoming a donor is not a threat to a person’s life -
only clinically dead patients that have been legally declared “brain-dead” can
donate their organs. The death of one patient is certainly a time of loss for
one family but this can be turned into a time of hope for another family
through the miracle of organ donation. Death is not always under human control,
but when it is caused by diseased or non-functional organs, being the organ
donor means a chance of defeating it.
A Nationwide Crisis
The irony is that organ donation as a method is favored by almost 95% Americans but only 52% are registered donors (Health Corps, Organ Donation). The need for organ donation is growing and the supply is sadly decreasing. The organ shortage crisis is a real truth of the today and it is affecting not just the world, but also the United States - even in a state as small as New Jersey.
Statistics from NJ Business (2020) state that
“...there are nearly 4,000 New Jersey residents awaiting a life-saving
transplant. Every day, approximately three people are added to the New Jersey
waiting list, and one person dies every three days while waiting for a
transplant.” New Jersey ranks 44th in the percentage of registered donors
(Amick, 2019).
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has further
impacted organ donation in New Jersey. The number of organ donors have seen a
drastic drop and donors who have been tested as positive for the virus are not
being permitted to donate since not much is known about this virus. Organ
transplantation has achieved secondary priority to account for an increasing
number of coronavirus patients (Ursillo, 2020). Such circumstances garner
greater attention to this crisis and more regulations to ensure patients
requiring these transplants are not lost while trying to save others.
Recently, a greater awareness is being
promoted in New Jersey thanks to a new law, (A-3180/S-376) passed by Senator
Vitale, D-Middlesex, Chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior
Citizens Committee, which, “designates April as “Donate Life Month” in New
Jersey (and) requires the New Jersey Department of the Treasury to disseminate
organ and tissue donation information with employee paychecks at least once
during the month of April.” This is a great start to solving this global health
issue but a lot more still has to be done.
Organ donation is a way of leaving a mark
of your life even after you die; a way of being a part of this world even after
losing your life. It is indeed a narrative of your life story and your death
that gives life to so many others and saves them from death. Even in death,
organ donation is the one medium that can make a person feel alive. Registering
as an organ donor is a commitment to creating your own legacy and enabling the
sustenance of a global heritage.
Amick, George. (March 29, 2019). Organ donation in New Jersey is
improving, but a critical shortage still exists. Retrieved from: https://www.nj.com/opinion/2014/09/amick_organ_donation.html
Health Corps, (n.d.). Organ Donation: Giving the Gift of Life.
Retrieved from: https://www.healthcorps.org/organ-donation-giving-the-gift-of-life/
New Jersey Business (Jan 13, 2020). NJ Organ Donors Break Records in
2019. Retrieved from: https://njbmagazine.com/njb-news-now/nj-organ-donors-break-records-in-2020/
Sharp, C., & Randhawa, G. (2014). Altruism, gift giving and
reciprocity in organ donation: a review of cultural perspectives and challenges
of the concepts. Transplantation Reviews (Orlando, Fla.), 28(4), 163–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trre.2014.05.001
Ursillo, Jen (April 6, 2020). COVID-19 pandemic causes complications for
organ donor programs. Retrieved from: https://nj1015.com/covid-19-pandemic-causes-complications-for-organ-donor-programs/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Vitale, Joseph (n.d.) New Jersey Donators. Legislation Increases
Awareness And Encourages New Jerseyans To Become Organ And Tissue Donors.
Retrieved from: https://www.njsendems.org/vitale-bill-designating-april-as-donate-life-month-signed-into-law/
Do you think the organ shortage crisis can be averted? Let me know in the comments below!
Don't forget to like, share and subscribe
Comments
Post a Comment