Brain Death and Organ Donation in Children

With the improvement in supportive medical care for critical illnesses, the demand for transplantation organs is increasing worldwide. In the USA, about 112,000 people were waiting for a transplant in 2019, with the total number of transplants done being only 39,718 with 19,267 donors. The organ donation rate in India is one of the lowest globally, with 0.86 per million population compared to the countries like the USA, where the rate is about 31.96 per million population. Although the exact statistics of patients waiting for transplantation are not available in India, the number far exceeds the organs available for transplantation. The live donor transplantation alone cannot match the demand for organs. Hence, the only way to increase the availability of the organs is by retrieving organs from brain-dead patients and cadaveric organ donors.