In India, organ transplantation has been a topic of much discussion and debate. However, a recent revelation has brought to light a stark gender disparity in the field. Data from 1995 to 2021 shows that for every woman who received an organ transplant, four men got transplants. This disparity, experts say, is due to economic and financial responsibilities, societal pressures, and ingrained preferences.
Organ transplantation in India
According to the report of Times of India, The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) has reported that more men are cadaver donors but more women are living donors. “Of the total organ donations in the country, 93% were living donors. This by itself is a statement that many organ donors in the country are women donors,” said Dr Anil Kumar, Director of NOTTO.
A study published in the Experimental and Clinical Transplantation Journal in 2021 found a significant gender disparity in the country when it comes to living organ transplantation. The data analysed organ transplants in 2019 and found that 80% of the living organ donors are women, mainly the wife or the mother, while 80% of the recipients are men.
The study also found that the primary reasons for more women donors are the socio-economic pressure on them to be the caretakers and givers in the family and as men are the breadwinners in most cases, they hesitate from undergoing any surgery.
Global gender disparity in organ transplants
Mayuri Barve, an organ transplant coordinator from DY Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre in Pune, said that in the last 15 years that she has been working in this field, only once did a husband come forward to donate his organ to his wife.
She added, “If the recipient is a man and the breadwinner, then the wife or the parents feel the responsibility of donating the organ. Women who are recipients feel guilty if their family members have to donate their organs and they refuse to take them from their families”.
The gender disparity in organ transplantation doesn’t limit itself just to India; it is an issue that the whole globe needs to address. The World Health Organization (WHO) has demanded equal access to organ transplantation for everyone, no matter their gender, race, or economic status. Nonetheless, the reality deviates significantly from this ideal.
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