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Covid takes its toll on organ donations in 2020
The total number of transplants done in 2020, till December 24 stood at 79, even as experts note that there is more awareness among families
Cadaver donations have seen a sharp fall in Pune division during 2020, mostly due to the Covid pandemic, when surgeries were put on hold and hospitals faced a shortage of doctors.
From 61 donations in 2018 and 63 in 2019, the number has come down to 39 organ donations this year.
The total number of transplants done in 2020, till December 24 stood at 79, even as experts note that there is more awareness among families now in case a family member is declared brain dead, even as experts note that there is more awareness among families now in case a family member is declared brain dead.
Dr Sheetal Dhadphale, secretary, Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) Pune, said that organ donation and transplants were stopped initially, as Covid cases were increasing, but later, it was resumed.
“Our team of doctors and social workers are working day and night to save more lives. We take all precautions and the process of organ retrieval as well as donation is completely safe. Though the number is less this time, it is more as compared to other regions,” said Dhadphale.
ZTCC Pune division includes Pune, Nashik, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Solapur, Dhule and Jalgaon.
Arti Gokhale from ZTCC Pune said that all the awareness initiatives are now online.
“We have left no stone unturned. There are families who are willing but because of Covid, things stopped. Now that everything is getting back on track there is a need for more offline awareness among families,” said Gokhale.
Talking about brain dead patients, Dr Sanjeev Jadhav, Heart and Lung Transplant Surgeon in Mumbai at Apollo Hospitals, said, “We get a lot of young patients who are declared brain dead post road accidents. Due to the lockdown this number has significantly reduced. Because of this, the waiting list for heart and lung transplants has increased.”
He said that the precautions during retrieving of organs are paramount.
“We test the organ donor and the patient for Covid, only then we go ahead with the procedure. These are challenging times, but we are doing our best,” said Jadhav.
Dr Bipin Vibhute, head of Liver and Multi-organ Transplant department at Sahyadri Hospitals, said that earlier there was some fear because of Covid.
“But now, many patients are coming to us for transplants. Most of the transplants that we did were from ‘live’ donors. This is a living person donating a part of their liver to another person. But cadaver donations have reduced this year due to Covid,” said Dr Vibhute.
