Knowledge and attitude of general public towards organ donation in a selected hospital with a view to provide educational material.

Organ donation is the transfer of healthy organs or tissue from a living or dead donor for those in need. It is one of the most life preserving therapy for organ failure in the end stage. The living donor organ donation involves an individual who is alive, medically fit and is the close relative (family, friend or a suitable donor) of the recipient. The deceased donor organ donation, on the other hand, is the individuals who have been brain or circulatory dead and have given prior consent before their death or by their family members. Universally, demand for transplantation of organ has increased rapidly over 20 years due to increasing prevalence of illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and obesity.Although in India, ’The Transplantation of Human Organs Act’ was legalized in 1994, rate of organ donation is still insufficient. Despite of the chances that thousands of lives to be saved through organ donation, due to lack of the knowledge, social dilemmas and also the thought that their organs will be misused, most of the people are reluctant to donate their organs. Knowledge of organ transplantation among general public has been proposed as a key in attaining the required increase in organ donation.Therefore this study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude of general public with regard to donation of organ.