Five lakh people in India die waiting for organ transplant in India every year with the country recording the lowest number of donations, experts said at a seminar on Saturday evening.

The discussion titled Recycle Yourself Become an Organ Donor at The Saturday Club, in association with The Telegraph, was attended by nephrologist Pratim Sengupta, who is associated with organ donation drives, and Shruti Mohta, the founding member of the Bengal Organ Donation Society, among others.

Mohta, the main speaker at the event, said superstitions attached to organ donation were a stumbling block, even among the educated.

“Educated people ask what if I am born blind in my next birth if I donate my eyes now. They ask what if I don’t attain salvation because I have donated my organs. We need to think,” Mohta said. “Do we think what if I give my wealth away, would I be born impoverished in my next birth”.

Mohta said the mindset of the educated people stands out in stark contrast to those who lack formal education, but are extremely open to the cause of organ donation.

“I had an event once for the domestic staff of my building. I had thought they would be a difficult segment to convince about organ donation. I expected a lot of resistance. I was amazed to find them so open to the cause,” Mohta said.

Organ donation figures in India are abysmally low compared to the rest of the world, she said.

“We have 50,000 people waiting for heart transplant annually and only one per cent receives a heart. Two lakh people are awaiting a kidney and only 8,000 people receive a kidney every year, 85,000 people await a liver transplant, only three per cent get a liver. One crore 25lakh people suffer from cornea blindness and only 12 per cent get a cornea. Which is why five lakh people die every year,” Mohta said. “Bengal saw only five organ transplants between 2012 and 2017. The situation improved marginally in 2018.”

Eight heart transplants have taken place in the city last year. In comparison, one hospital in Mumbai carried out about 25 transplants and in Chennai where there are 30-odd heart transplants a year.

Nephrologist Sengupta acknowledged the problem in convincing relatives of brain-dead patients about donating organs. “Sensitisation is a must,” he said.

The session was attended by former Ms Calcutta Lopamudra and radio personality Jimmy Tangree. Lopamudra signed a form, pledging to donate her organs. Jimmy Tangree, who heads Friends 91.5 FM, promised to host a show on organ donation.

The session was moderated by Punam Singh.