REASONS FOR DECREASIING ORGAN DONATION
Abstract
Following the increasing unwillingness of persons to donate their organs to those in dire need, many patients have succumbed from their solvable conditions. This failure of turnout has had an increasing mysterious pattern that has prompted studies to evaluate what has attributed to the same.
There are key features that results into this. There is insufficient education to the learners in schools and the public concerning the advantages and specifics of organ donation, failure of institutions in charge of the practice to perform regular check-up and follow-up of registered donors and inadequate reasons for failure to participate in tissue or organ donation.
This calls for universal campaign for organ donation, proper education of donors as well as strengthening organ transplant bodies to enhance registration of persons and follow-up.
Introduction
One of the least utilized life-saving opportunities is organ transplant. There are many patients in the waiting list who are looking forward to getting a donor in order to survive their clinical conditions; unfortunately, the donors do not measure up at all. Many individuals who have the ability to donate organs are reluctant to do so even after realizing that they are the only solution towards such patients’ complications.
This has prompted the Health Department of the government to request for a report to determine reasons why the rate of organ donation remains low despite efforts to promote it. This is focused majorly on reasons why most people do not participate in organ donation schemes and to evaluation of their validity. This focuses both on the cultural and religious beliefs of the people, knowledge about organ transplant, personal attitude regarding the procedure, and their perception about how the practice is carried out.
Findings
There was reasonable registration of donors across all regions (both live and deceased); however, this did not translate to those who donated their organs eventually. Some of the cases were attributed to the failure of institutions and bodies in charge of donation to conduct a follow-up among the registered people to regularly ascertain their willingness (Whyte, 2003). This is due to the increase in donor registration from 17.2% in 2005 to 29.7% in 2012 without rhyming increase in organ donation itself (Whyte, 2003). Some were willing to donate but the institutions did not take the initiative to ensure they take part. Donors, on the other side, did not turn up in health institutions to donate their organs as they had agreed before.
It was expected that the educated would participate more in organ donation practices compared to their uneducated counterparts or dropouts. This is due to the incorporation of organ donation pros in the curriculum – primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions. After a survey to determine how these individuals contributed towards the betterment of the practice, it was found that their participation was almost similar to the uneducated ones (National Survey of Organ Donation Attitudes and Behaviors, 2012). The incorporation was done within the past decade, but there was no significant difference within the past 20 years (National Survey of Organ Donation Attitudes and Behaviors, 2012). Their support for the practice did not equally translate to their participation.
Fig 1. Support for Organ Donation from 1993 – 2012 in Percentages (National Survey of Organ Donation Attitudes and Behaviors, 2012) page 13
Another result of the research was the reasons for unwillingness of individuals to donate. The persons involved in the research were interrogated to inquire if there is a particular reason as to why they do not want their organs donated to those in need or upon their deaths (Almassi, 2014). Most of the people were undecided on whether they want to participate or not. Some people claimed that they could not donate due to medical reasons, other said that they completely lacked interest in the practice (Almassi, 2014). Other reasons were that they do not want their body disfigured or cut up, it was against their religion and some felt they were too old to donate organs. Around 7.2% of the respondents who did not want to take part in organ donation refused to provide an answer for the questions asked (National Survey of Organ Donation Attitudes and Behaviors, 2012).
Close to 50% stated that there would be no sufficient reason to make them change their minds on their reasons for refusing to donate organs. Additionally, those who had taken the mandate to inform their family members that they cannot participate in organ donation whatsoever were 30.2% (Almassi, 2014). This serves as an evidence that they cling to their reasons of not participating in organ donation.
Conclusion
Most of the reasons that have led to a decline in organ donation throughout the globe are those that can be addressed and put right so that more lives can be saved. Just as blood donation has experienced positive changes in the past century, organ donation can be promoted in different ways starting with tackling problems that mostly lead to donor reluctance. This can further result to significance in life saving – the key role of medical practice.
Recommendations
Whenever any member of the family has a terminal illness that requires organ transplant, members of the family take it as their initiative to register as donors and donate the required organ to their children, siblings or parents, and enhance their survival (Healey, 2011). With this in mind, many lives can be saved when many avoid egocentrism and regard each person in the community’s as precious as their family members’. Registration for donation should be more frequent than it is when this is put into consideration.
Many religions and ethnic groups have baseless reasons for deterring their members from participation in organ, tissue and blood donation. This is even after education of the members that this will assist in saving the lives of many; and that they can still lead healthy lives after donation (Whyte, 2003). These social groups should exacerbate the process of organ transplant by allowing it and effectively educating members of its importance to the society and ailing individuals.
Bodies in charge of organ donation, registered members, medical practitioners, and family members of those registered should work hand in hand to ensure that registered members honor their promises by walking into the donation centers and donating their organs. Rules should also be set that govern the donors, accountability for any misfortunes that may occur during the process and insuring them on the same. This allows compensation in case of harm. Once registered, members should also enjoy privileges such as free treatment in those health centers.
Bibliography
Almassi, B. (2014). Trust and the Duty of Organ Donation. Bioethics, 28(6), pp.275-283.
Healey, J. (2011). Organ and tissue donation. 1st ed. Thirroul, N.S.W.: Spinney Press.
Whyte, G. (2003). Ethical aspects of blood and organ donation. Internal Medicine Journal, 33(8), pp.362-364.
