India achieves over 15,000 transplants in a year first time, an annual increase of 27%

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Sunday said that there is fast resurgence in the transplant activities post COVID and for the first time country has achieved more than 15,000 transplants in a year (2022). Along with this, there was an annual increase of 27 per cent in transplant numbers, he said.
Bhushan was speaking at the National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) Scientific Dialogue 2023 held by helath ministry here on Sunday. The dialogue was organized to bring all the stakeholders under one roof to brainstorm ideas about interventions and best practices in the organ and tissue transplant field that can be taken up for saving lives.  
Highlighting the need to update the existing structures and guidelines in place, Bhushan said that “though we have existing structures at various governance levels like NOTTO at national level, SOTTOs at state levels and ROTTOs at regional level, it needs to be ensured that they work as a well-oiled machinery while performing their mandate.”
He underlined on three priority areas which include programmatic restructuring, communication strategy and skilling of professionals. 
Underscoring the changing demography of the country, Health Secretary noted that India has a growing geriatric population and to ensure quality of life for them, it is critically important to update our communication and awareness strategy, so that potential organ donors come forward.
He suggested wide orientation and re-orientation through training programs, newly designed courses and digital interventions for healthcare professionals and domain knowledge experts. He further added that “Along with training programs, wide publicity and awareness through not just print and electronic media but engaging with local stakeholders and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) can be taken up”. Thus, he pushed for a multi-stakeholder exercise for communicating effectively and making people realize their contribution towards a greater good, he said.
“Despite having 640+ medical hospitals and colleges, transplants remain a specialized service limited to some hospitals only. There is a need to expand the number of institutions where surgeries and transplants are undertaken. Thus, to increase surgeries/transplants in the country, along with sensitization and training for healthcare professionals, our physical infrastructure must be optimally utilized. There is also a need to identify high case load institutions and bring them under the network NOTT program”, Bhushan said while addressing the occasion.
Dr. Rajneesh Sehai, Director NOTTO, Dr. BL Sherwal, MS Safdarjung Hospital along with senior officers of the Ministry, Experts from Medical fraternity, Healthcare professionals and representatives from Industry were present at the conference.