National Organ Transplant Program

General Studies 2 >> Social Justice

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National Organ Transplant Program

1. Background

The shortage of organs is virtually a universal problem but Asia lags behind much of the rest of the world.
India lags far behind other countries even in Asia.
It is not that there aren't enough organs to transplant.
Nearly every person who dies naturally, or in an accident, is a potential donor.
Even then, innumerable patients cannot find a donor.
There is a wide gap between patients who need transplants and the organs that are available in India.
An estimated around 1.8 lakh persons suffer from renal failure every year, however, the number of renal transplants done is around 6000 only.
An estimated 2 lac patients die of liver failure or liver cancer annually in India, about 10-15% of which can be saved with a timely liver transplant.
Hence about 25-30 thousand liver transplants are needed annually in India but only about one thousand five hundred are being performed. Similarly, about 50000 persons suffer from Heart failure annually but only about 10 to 15 heart transplants are performed every year in India.
In the case of Cornea, about 25000 transplants are done every year against a requirement of 1 lakh.

2. National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization

National Network division of NOTTO would function as the apex centre for all Indian activities of coordination and networking for procurement and distribution of organs and tissues and registry of Organs and Tissues Donation and Transplantation in the country.
The activities would be undertaken to facilitate Organ Transplantation most safely in the shortest possible time and to collect data and develop and publish a National registry.
The Government of India has the National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP) to promote organ donation and transplantation across the country. The provisions under the programme include financial support for:

Setting up of State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organizations (SOTTOs) in each State/UT.
Setting up of National/ Regional/State Bio-material centres;
Establishing new Organ Transplant/retrieval facilities and strengthening existing Organ Transplant/retrieval facilities.
Provision of Transplant Coordinators to medical colleges and trauma centres.
Maintenance of deceased donor
Dignified funeral of deceased donor
Post-transplant immune-suppressant drugs to BPL patients.

3. Objectives of National Organ Transplant Programme:

To organize a system of organ and Tissue procurement & distribution for transplantation.
To promote deceased organ and Tissue donation.
To train required manpower.
To protect vulnerable poor from organ trafficking.
To monitor organ and tissue transplant services and bring about policy and programme corrections/ changes whenever needed.

High Burden (Demand Versus Supply gap)
Poor Infrastructure especially in Govt. sector hospitals
Lack of Awareness of the concept of Brain Stem Death among stakeholders
Poor rate of Brain Stem Death Certification by Hospitals
Poor Awareness and attitude toward organ donation--- Poor Deceased Organ donation rate
Lack of Organized systems for organ procurement from a deceased donor
Maintenance of Standards in Transplantation, Retrieval and Tissue Banking
Prevention and Control of Organ trading
High Cost (especially for uninsured and poor patients)
Regulation of Non-Govt. Sector

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