Centre Directs States To Set Up Organ And Tissue Donation Teams In All Hospitals

The Centre has instructed all hospitals across India to establish dedicated teams for organ and tissue donation, aiming to bridge the significant gap between patients in need of transplants and the availability of donors, The New Indian Express reported.

In a communication to state governments, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) emphasised that hospitals must report all deaths promptly and ensure timely counselling of families to encourage organ and tissue donation.

“It is essential that hospitals should constitute organ and tissue donation teams by involving brain stem death committee members and transplant coordinator/counsellor,” NOTTO said in a letter to all states.

NOTTO director Dr Anil Kumar added that the teams must be notified of every death in hospitals. “Even if the family does not agree to organ donation, the option for tissue donation must be given to the family,” he said in the letter dated October 17.

Tissues such as corneas, skin, bones, and heart valves can be harvested from brain-stem-death cases, cardiovascular deaths in hospitals, or natural deaths, typically within 10 hours post-mortem. One donor has the potential to save up to eight lives.

The letter highlighted the urgent need for donations, noting that India requires nearly one lakh corneas annually, yet only about one-third of this demand is being met.

It also stressed the importance of bone donation in treating trauma patients, nonunion fractures, congenital abnormalities, and other bone-related disorders.

The initiative aims to standardise organ and tissue donation practices across the country, improve counselling for families, and enhance the overall availability of lifesaving transplants.

By establishing these teams in every hospital, the government hopes to significantly increase organ and tissue donations, ultimately saving thousands of lives each year.

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