NEW DELHI: Maharashtra leads the country in recording the highest number of organ donation pledges under the recently launched Ayushman Bhav campaign.
Over 80,000 Indians have promised to donate their organs and tissues in the country since the launch of the campaign on September 13 by President Droupadi Murmu.
Madhya Pradesh and Telangana follow Maharashtra in second and third position, respectively.
Karnataka stood fourth in the number of people who have taken organ donation pledges through the newly launched digital pledge system on the central National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) portal.
However, the number of pledges made through QR codes in the newly implemented digital pledge system is now dwindling, as per data.
While over 14,000 people pledged their organs on October 2 – Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, which saw the highest number of pledges; the number slowly decreased. On October 24, only 25 pledges were made.
While Maharashtra has recorded over 23,000 pledges, followed by Madhya Pradesh (18,945), Telangana (11,581), Karnataka (8,287), Andhra Pradesh (3,726) Uttarakhand (3,263), Odisha (2,499), Uttar Pradesh (1,872), Tamil Nadu (1,479), Gujarat (826), Kerala (770), Himachal Pradesh (669), Jharkhand (565), and Delhi (547).
A person, after his death can give new life to up to eight people by donating vital organs, namely kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, pancreas and intestine and improve the life of many more by donating tissues like cornea, skin, bone, heart valve, etc.
According to the NOTTO website, people in the age group of 30-45 years of age are coming forward in considerable numbers to donate their organs. Over 40,000 people in this age group have pledged to donate their organs. The 18-30 age group follows it at around 22,000, then followed by the 45-60 age group at over 18,000.
However, there are not many takers in the age group over 60 for the initiative to pledge their organs. So far, only 2,651 have pledged their organs and tissues in this age group.
Women continue to lead in pledging their organs and tissues. Of the over 80,000 people who pledged their organs, over 47,000 were women, while men were over 36,000.
While over 63,000 people pledged organs and tissues, over 9,000 promised to donate their organs. Over 7,000 pledged to donate their tissues.
India faces the lowest organ donation rate worldwide, with a mere 0.1 per cent of the population donating their organs after death, in stark contrast to 70-80 per cent of people in Western countries who pledge to do so.
