T.N. catches up with previous record high deceased donors in eight months

Tamil Nadu sees record high of 185 deceased donors in 2024, attributed to government honors and increased awareness efforts.

Within eight months in 2024, Tamil Nadu has already touched its all-time high of 185 deceased donors from 2016. The State government’s decision to accord honours for deceased donors coupled with focussed efforts have improved the awareness levels on organ donation among the public.

According to data from the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN), the State has recorded 185 deceased donors as of August 28.

N. Gopalakrishnan, member secretary of TRANSTAN, said that there was definitely an improvement in the awareness levels on organ donation among the public, though more needed to be done. “Take this single centre experience for instance. At Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), we have observed that nearly 70% of families came forward to donate the organs of their brain dead relatives after a single round of counselling. Though we cannot generalise this single-centre observation, there is definitely an upswing in awareness levels among the public, and we want to take this forward to every nook and corner of the State,” he said.

RGGGH dean E. Theranirajan added that 80 to 90% of the families agreed to donate the organs of their relatives after declaration of brain death. “The awareness has increased especially after last year’s government order (to accord honour to brain dead donors). Last year, RGGGH recorded 26 deceased donors. We have recorded 24 donors so far this year,” he said.

Two key developments led to a significant leap in the public perception of organ donations. “The honour walks conducted in every hospital kindled the collective psyche of the society. What had a greater impact is the Chief Minister’s announcement on September 23, 2023 to accord honour to the mortal remains of the deceased donors by a District Collector or Sub Collector or a person of high ranking not less than a Revenue Divisional Officer/District Revenue Officer. Government Order 331 that followed this announcement was historic as it helped in spreading awareness on organ donations. This has been replicated in Odisha, and more recently in Andhra Pradesh,” Dr Gopalakrishnan said.

Within a year of this announcement, the State recorded 246 deceased donors (till August 30), he added.

There were efforts taken to strengthen services in government medical college hospitals. This included periodic reviews at different levels. To infuse more knowledge on the organ donation processes, TRANSTAN along with Madras Medical College/RGGGH came up with a structured training programme for doctors of government medical college hospitals in the State. “The training focussed on identification of brain stem dysfunction, certification of brain death and maintenance of deceased donors till organ retrieval,” he said.