Increase in number of live organ transplants raises alarm

The union health ministry has directed all states and union territories to furnish the latest and timely records of transplants of organs from living persons after data reported by their licensing authorities set alarm bells ringing.

The move comes amid the Centre’s ‘one nation organ donation policy’ that is aimed at encouraging and standardizing voluntary organ donations in India.

According to data received by the Centre there were 15,561 organ transplants last year, out of which only 2,765 were from deceased donors, pointing to a possible market in organs. In another telling statistic, around 9,834 live kidneys and 2,957 livers were donated and registered under the government platform. These too did not come from cadavers.

“The National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) has written to all state/UT government to furnish latest and timely records of live organ donation transplant taking place. We have noticed there have been a lot of live organ transplants taking place across the country, however, the state licensing authorities are failing to record every case,” said an official aware of the matter.

Queries sent to the health ministry did not elicit a response.

The mandate of NOTTO is to establish a network for organ procurement and distribution and to maintain a national registry for the purpose of surveilling organ donation and transplantation. According to government data, the number of living organ transplants have increased from 3,153 in 2013 to 12,791 in 2022.

Doctors say that every year hundreds of thousands of patients languish on waiting lists at top hospitals for life-saving organs amid an acute shortage of donors. In India, nearly 50,000 people need heart transplants, another 200,000 kidneys, and 100,000 each liver and eye transplants every year.

“Besides this, it has come to our notice that certain websites and social media posts are promoting and offering trading, which is in violation of provisions of THOTA (Transplantation of Human Organ & Tissue Act), 1994 and Rules. Health & law and order being state subjects, and THOTA provides for State Appropriate Authority to be appointed by every state to deal with such illegal/commercial activities/organ trafficking. We have directed the states to take necessary steps for prevention and control of organ trafficking and putting in place a system to monitor the same,” a senior official at NOTTO said.

In order to raise awareness about organ donation, the Union health ministry is drafting a curriculum titled “organ donation” to sensitize school students on the issue.

Currently, the draft curriculum is under review by experts from NOTTO and once approved, the health ministry will communicate with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to incorporate the chapter on organ donation in books of senior school students.