ORGAN DONATION

• Organ donation is the process of donating organs or biological tissue to a living recipient, who is in need of a transplant. 
• There are two different kinds of transplant donations:

1. Living Donor Transplant – This occurs when a living person decides to donate his or her organ(s) to someone in need of a transplant. 
This list usually consists of one kidney (because one kidney is capable of performing bodily functions), a part of pancreas (because half of the pancreas is adequate to sustain pancreatic functions) and a part of liver (because the few segments that can be donated will regenerate after a period of time).
2. Deceased Donor Transplant – This is when organs from a brain dead individual are transplanted into the body of a living recipient. The deceased individual in this scenario can only be a victim of brain death as donations of vital organs are not possible after the heart stops beating
Transplants with deceased donors (who are brain dead) can be of the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, pancreas, as well as tissues, like the cornea and bone marrow.

• Brain death is the complete loss of brain function (including involuntary activity necessary to sustain life). It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person is alive and some autonomic functions remain.[5] It is also distinct from an ordinary coma, in which some brain and bodily activity and function remains

• The length of time donated organs and tissues can be kept outside the body, before transplantation is to occur, vary:
• Heart: 4-6 hours
Liver: 12-24 hours
Kidney: 48-72 hours
Heart-Lung: 4-6 hours
Lung: 4-6 hours

Legislation in India
• The primary legislation related to organ donation and transplantation in India, Transplantation of Human Organs Act, was passed in 1994 and is aimed at regulation of removal, storage and transplantation of human organs for therapeutic purposes and for prevention of commercial dealings in human organs.
• The Act was initiated at the request of Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Goa (who therefore adopted it by default) and was subsequently adopted by all states except Andhra Pradesh and Jammu &Kashmir.
• In India, matters related to health are governed by each state.
• Despite a regulatory framework, cases of commercial dealings in human organs were reported in the media. An amendment to the act was proposed by the states of Goa, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal in 2009 to address inadequacies in the efficacy, relevance and impact of the Act. The amendment to the Act was passed by the parliament in 2011, and the rules were notified in 2014. The same is adopted by the proposing states and union territories by default and may be adopted by other states by passing a resolution.