Second Life

You are not important because of how long you live, you are important because of how effective you live. Second Life that everyone can’t make it but you can help the people who want to make it. Believe me this is not a spiritual article.

Health statistics show that annually more than 2,000 people die due to kidney failure. Nearly 1,700 die due to advanced liver disease; this statistic is limited to government hospitals. In that context more than 4,000 people die every year due to liver and kidney failure in Sri Lanka. The medical community considers this as one of the biggest health problems that needs to be immediately addressed. Especially Chronic Kidney Disease (CKDu) presence among people living in some areas confined to North Central Province. A person from Anuradhapura, that’s why I really really concern about a second life for those needy people. 

The only lasting solution for such diseases is an organ transplant which will give the patient a second lease on life.

Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. When it comes to transplantation, there are two main categories; Organs and tissues. Heart, lung, kidney, liver, pancreas are some examples for transplant-able organs while hand, cornea, skin, bone and even blood transfusion are some examples for tissues. In 50 years, transplantation has become a successful worldwide practice. However, there are large differences between countries in access to suitable transplantation and in the level of safety and quality. It is said that a single person can give a second chance for 50 people for a second life.

In Sri Lanka there are eight kidney transplant centers attached to national hospitals in the country with nearly 400 transplants done every year while more than 2000 die every year. Also liver transplant programs are carried out in two hospitals in Sri Lanka. The ethical issue here is you can’t sell an organ. Donation has to be a donation. Sri Lankan law does not allow to do that. Organ transplantation in Sri Lanka is governed by Transplantation of Human Tissue Act – 1987.

When a patient dies in the ICU the ICU doctors have to confirm brain death. There are a series of tests that they have to be done not only once but twice. Then the patient is legally declared dead. Then the ICU doctors can make an offer to the transplant teams in the hospitals. There are national level transplantation programmes in foreign countries which are very effective. List of donors, recipients and all the details are included. A national programme would make the process much easier.

Let me tell you a success story that many of you may not know. In 1958 as a medical student, he launched his campaign to collect corneas. He received his first set of corneas in 1959, stored them in his home refrigerator at Wijerama Mawatha in Colombo. With the help of his wife he established the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society in 1961. Since its founding, the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society has gifted over 100,000 corneas as second life to restore the sight of the blind in Sri Lanka and 62 other countries, Now in addition to eyes, Sri Lanka also donates human tissues to the world. He is none other than Dr. Hudson Silva.

When it comes to organ transplant, there are some famous myths.

• Age : Doesn’t matter how old you are as long as you are healthy 
• Religion : There is no any barrier from all four major religions in Sri Lanka 
• Cost : If the transplantation is done in a government hospital, no cost involved to either part
• Future after donation. :Believe me god has created two lungs and two kidneys as active and standby mode. At least when your closest one is in need, please give them a second life. 

If you are afraid to donate an organ, I urge you all please donate blood at least to give the needy people a second life.