Union Health Minister reviews Organ Donation Policy, directs for imbibing learnings from International Standards

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday reviewed the Organ Donation Policy in the country and directed for imbibing the learnings from International Standards. He also opined for the far sighted structural changes are in the offing to reform the organ donation and organ transplant sector.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon the countrymen to come forward for the noble cause of organ donation for saving lives of fellow human beings in the 99th episode of “Man Ki Baat” Programme. This has given a fresh  impetus to organ donation in the country.  The number of total organ transplants in the country has substantially increased from less than 5000 in the year 2013 to more than 15000 in the year 2022.  Now, more organs per deceased donor are being utilized due to better coordination through the network of Organ & Tissues Transplant Organizations at National (NOTTO), Regional (ROTTO) and State level (SOTTO) e.g. in the year 2016, 2265 organs were utilized from 930 deceased donors while 2765 could be utilized from 904 deceased donors in the year 2022.

NOTTO is working on a Transplant Manual as a step by step guide for implementation of Organ Donation and Transplantation Progamme in the Hospitals and also on a Standard Course for training of Transplant Coordinators. Both these documents will be completed and released shortly. Four verticals for coordination, IEC, Training and HR/accounts have been created in the NOTTO for better implementation of the programme.  Recently, Govt. of India has granted Special Casual Leaves of up to 42 days to Central Govt. Employees, who donate an organ to another human being, as a special welfare measure in public interest.

Under the guidance of the Union Health Minister, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is also imbibing learnings from international best practices for further policy reforms towards augmentation of organ donation and transplantation in the country.