Intimate Gifts and 'Bad' Deaths: Reflections on Organ Transplants, State and Society in Gujarat (original) (raw)
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This paper draws a parallel of Maslow hierarchy of needs with organ donation and transplantation and illustrates how these needs i.e., physiological, security, love and belongingness, self-esteem and self-actualization are inter-dependent, interlinked and entrenched in both living as well as deceased organ donation and transplantation. The paper illustrates the nuances of inter-linkages of need satisfaction of people and professionals in organ donation and transplantation. With some case studies, it draws attention to the plight of impoverished people and insecure women who are exploited or intimidated into donating organs for meeting their physiological and security needs in class stratified and gender insensitive social milieu respectively. It however, reveres the acts of donation of organs by relatives of deceased donors who allow donation of organs from Brain Stem Dead donors in India and illustrates how security needs of these families are met through the most powerful and altruistic act of organ donation that gives life to a number of people fighting end stage organ failures. The paper traces new expectations of love and belongingness in the form of organ donation and discusses role reversal of females even on Rakshabandan, a Hindu festival that celebrates love and affection between a sister and a brother. The sisters risk their lives and gift their organs to give a fresh lease of life to their brothers. Drawing attention to the forth level of needs, the paper discusses the plight of some vulnerable people who end up donating organs for gratification of their self-esteem needs in contrast to transplantation community who seek gratification of the same need through transplantation and influencing law making process in context of both living and deceased donation. It admires the gratification of self-actualization needs of a number of people who pledge to donate tissues, organs as well as the bodies after death/Brain Stem Death. India being a progressive country in organ donation and transplantation, this paper reveals how some professionals having satisfied all other basic needs, spend their own money and work tirelessly for pushing ahead the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) under the aegis of National Organ Transplant Programme(NOTP ) in the country.
Social Science & Medicine, 57, 389-401., 2003
This study explores the meanings of organ donation, with emphasis on donating eyes and hearts, comparing people across gender and across two ethnic groups. Four focus group interviews were conducted with people living in the North of England: (1) five Muslim women of Pakistani origin, (2) five Muslim men of Pakistani origin, (3) nine white English women, and (4) eight white English men. The focus group interviews were analysed using grounded theory and a conceptual micro-model created for each group. The main finding was that the act of organ donation can be perceived as involving a personal cost. The Muslims of Pakistani origin related costs with their religious beliefs. In contrast, the white English associated costs with their distrust of the medical system. Women were concerned about the transmission of disease or of personality, whereas the white English men highlighted their personal rights. We conclude that the meaning of organ donation is more than about being and having a body. It is bound up in metaphors of embodiment, religious considerations, and moral judgement of scientific and medical conduct.
Impossible Gifts: Bodies, Buddhism and Bioethics in Contemporary Sri Lanka
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2004
The ethical concerns generated by transactions in human tissue touch on fundamental ideas of the body, society, and the nature of giving. These issues have generally been discussed using Euro-American terms of reference. Drawing on fieldwork carried out in Sri Lanka, this article describes the ways in which a distinctively Theravada Buddhist notion of giving and charity has been linked to the development of strategies to encourage the donation of human tissue. Eye and blood donation are used as illustrations of the linkages that have been forged between religious duty, other-wordly aspirations, and nationalist sentiment in the development of national donation services. The key question which is then addressed is how these distinctive beliefs and values inform attempts to frame donations of sperm and ova which are now beginning to take place in Sri Lanka. In religious and cultural terms the candidacy of sperm and ova as gifts appears to be evaluated very differently. Explaining these differences opens up the possibility of a more thoroughgoing anthropological critique of bioethics and the manner of its diffusion both within and beyond the Euro-American context. In his 1986 Malinowski lecture,Jonathan Parry (1986) made some insightful observations regarding Mauss's seminal account of the gift in human society. The first of these was Parry's suggestion of an intellectual archaeology in which Mauss's inspiration for the 'spirit of the gift' is linked explicitly to South Asian sources (1986: 486). The second was his attempt to unearth an evolutionary model, implicit in Mauss, which contrasts giving in tribal religions with giving in world religions and developed economies. In the latter, the idea of pure, unreciprocated, and unreciprocatable gifts is consonant with salvation strategies in which the giver benefits in terms of'unseen fruits' (1986: 462). These ideas were subsequently carried further forward in Laidlaw's reevaluation of the significance of the 'free gift'; this work challenges the proposition that acts which do not appear to extend social relations are of no interest to anthropologists (Laidlaw 2000). These observations have provided important refinements in attempts to theorize the wide-ranging objects, connections, and intentions which are to be found under the umbrella of'the gift'. This article has two main aims. First, I wish to reinforce the observations made by Parry and Laidlaw regarding the importance of South Asian conceptions of giving in our attempts to understand Mauss's ambitious, inspiring, but ultimately partial theorizations of the place of the 'gift' in human society. My focus here are the beliefs and practices of Theravada Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Second, and more importantly, I wish to extend these insights to the growing ? Royal Anthropological Institute 2004.
Challenges and Motivators to Organ Donation: A Qualitative Exploratory Study in Gujarat, India
International Journal of General Medicine
Despite the global efforts to improve organ donation, there is a demand-supply gap for organs in India. The only solution to meet this disparity is to improve deceased donor transplants in the country through victims of road accidents. The government has instituted several initiatives to achieve this goal. However, challenges and barriers continue to affect the organ donation process. The present study aims to document the motivating factors and obstacles in the decision of families to donate organs in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and their suggestions to improve the processes involved in organ donation. Patients and Methods: A qualitative exploratory study (in-depth interview) of ten relatives of deceased organ donors was conducted from Oct 2021 to Feb 2022. Interviews were audio recorded, and detailed notes were taken during the interview. Thematic analysis was done using ATLAS.ti version 8 software. Results: The significant motivators identified were family members' belief or conviction that it would help save the lives of others; a sense of moral obligation to do so as bodies of brain-dead persons can contribute to this noble goal, no use of the body after death, an extension of life, and being a role model for others. The challenges were mistrusting the organ donation process, fear of being responsible for any mishappening, and feeling of shock. The suggestions to improve organ donation included awareness creation, simplifying the legal process for accidental deaths, providing benefits to the donor family, and a system for identifying potential donors and their counselling. Conclusion: The present study reflects the need for a more comprehensive awareness campaign to generate awareness and remove the misconception about organ donation in India. The findings of the study can be helpful for policymakers to amend the current organ donation process in India and improve the disequilibrium of demand and supply of deceased donations in India.
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED: ORGAN DONATION IN THE TEACHINGS OF DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
Research has shown that in many cultures, religious convictions are still an important factor that influence people’s attitudes and actions. These religious convictions influence, amongst other things, the decision whether or not one could or should donate organs while living or after one’s death. This chapter analyses the position that major religions take on this issue. It is to be expected that a religion’s theological anthropology, its concept of the afterlife and its theology of the body have particular relevance for the religious understanding of organ donation. However this paper argues that although the major religions of the world have different theological positions and perspectives on these subjects there is a general consensus – albeit with different emphasis - in favour of organ donation because all religions accept the basic rule – Do to others, what you would like them to do to you. The chapter also discusses in some detail the position on organ donation of the world’s three largest religions, namely Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.
Critical Analysis of Organ Donation from the Islamic Perspective
The Scholar Islamic Academic Research Journal, 2018
Most Islamic religious pioneers acknowledge organ transplantation from living donor (if they don't hurt the contributor) and after death to spare life. Most religious scholars don't recognize cerebral passing like a foundation as well as reflect on the discontinuance of all life indications, comprising heart musicality as a precondition for proclaiming demise. Regardless of this Islamic religious position, Muslims regularly have questions about whether the Islamic custom considers organ transplantation restricted. This instability comes from the equivocalness caused by clashing perspectives among some Islamic pioneers on this issue. What's more, the absence of help with a by and large negative disposition towards transplantation has been reflected in the studies of different Islamic populace. This general disregard of organ transplantation has brought about a low rate of cooperation in organ transplantation by rehearsing Muslims, even in situations where the
PEOPLE'S PERSPECTIVES : INSIGHTS INTO ORGAN DONATION
Abstract: - This article gives us insights into the grey areas and conflicts surrounding organ donation from brain stem dead donors from the perspective of people in India. Brain stem death is a new definition of death which is not commonly understood. This article questions the recipient centric organ donation law given to understand the anti-therapeutic effect of apnea test on the donor, a prerequisite for diagnosing brain stem death. The article also voices concern over the partial instruction given to donors or donor families, mistrusted medical fraternity, unregulated market of organ donation and altruism not percolating in the system. It also deals with factors like Lazarus sign and body movements of the brain stem dead; non-acceptance of conditional donation and undisclosed identities of recipients post donation acting as dissuading factors in popularizing organ donation. The article makes a strong case for developing common man’s faith in the medial system and professionals and prevention of doctors from succumbing to the pressures to diagnose patients as brain stem dead. This article suggests making family consent for apnea test mandatory; giving the family an option to be present during the test and giving them the choice to say no to postmortem. The paper also suggests creating awareness on the new definition of death, the Law of organ donation and transplantation, disseminating comprehensive information, regularizing market, providing health related incentives to donor families, conducting research on people’s perspective and allowing conditional donation of at least one organ.
Four Anthropological and Religious Arguments in Favour of the Organ Donation
2012
Organs donation is for most people a problem that is mainly connected to the medical field. The reality showed that this matter goes beyond the pure scientific or technical, communication and decision frames. Thus, the organ donation, by its issues, has a both religious and philosophic nature. It seems that, most of the times the cultural and religious data are those which shape our opinions about this phenomenon. In this paper we have identified four important arguments of anthropological and religious nature which support the idea of organ donation. The organ donation and the freedom of choice represent the first theme that emphasises the importance of the informal accept within the medical act. This, after all, represents the concrete expression of exercising the human freedom in limit conditions. The organ donation and the model of the Christian sacrifice is the second argument that proves the organ donation can be seen as a veritable expression of the Christian sacrifice in the...
Legal Framework, Issues and Challenges of Living Organ Donation in India
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This paper gives insights into living organ donation practices in India in context of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA) 1994 and its amended version -Transplantation of Human Organs (THO) amendment Act -2011.The paper classifies "Known Living Donors "into "near relatives" and "other than near relatives" and "Unknown Living Donors" as "altruistic", "quasi-altruistic" and "non- altruistic" organ donors and discusses their nuances and subtleties. The paper delves into multiple roles of "Competent Authority" and "Authorization Committees" in ensuring that no commercial consideration, pressures and coercion is involved in living organ donation and transplantation. The role of "Appropriate Authority" in issuing licenses to retrieval and transplant hospital is briefly described. This paper deliberates upon some issues like infrastructural and manpower limitations for live organ ...