bengaluru he couldnt see renal failure take a toll on his dear friend and colleague so oncologist dr ramesh billimagga decided to donate a kidney to dr gurunath kilira after getting his familys consent the duo may not be related by blood but their deep friendship was reason enough for dr ramesh to take the step after three months of legal medical and ethical formalities the transplant authorisation committee of a private hospital gave the goahead today the two oncologists are in their mid60s and are hale and hearty the gesture which has cemented their bond shows how donating organs to unrelated patients can be helpful to the latter with their families not having to worry about an organ donation racket the duos story is specially relevant in the wake of health minister ut khaders statement that the government is mulling changes to the human organ transplant act 1994 to ease the transplantation process involving living unrelated donors with cadaver transplants failing to fulfill the demand for organs transplants from unrelated donors are said to be the solution if the law permits without much of a hassle at present persons unrelated to the patients can donate organs only if the authorisation committees give approval however the process is tedious and it takes more than 23 months one has to show documents to prove there was no monetary transaction between the two families the duration is a problem running from pillar to post to prove ones willingness to donate an organ to a dear one can leave the person frustrated making him change his mind in my case i shared my decision with my immediate family only providing a singlewindow clearance system can be helpful said dr ramesh a donor can lead a healthy life said the oncologist who trekked to kailash mansarovar and mount kilimanjaro after the donation stressing the need for relaxation of the rules nephrologists and transplant surgeons say it is important to make sure donations by unrelated persons dont lead to organ trade the government can also take steps to safeguard the donors life by giving himher benefits like health and life insurance fear of the system being misused shouldnt become reason enough not to have it in place at all said dr kilara sri lanka considered the medical destination for transplants among unrelated donors recently banned the process temporarily as some cases of organ trade came to light there were many indian patients who were probably taking donors to sri lanka for kidney transplants such patients do come to hospitals in india later for followup treatment but its a hushhush affair said dr h sudarshan ballal nephrologist and chairman of manipal hospitals