India Tightens Organ Transplant Rules: Ensuring Fair & Transparent Allocation

The department of health has stepped up surveillance of organ transplantation operations by providing guidelines to multi branch private hospitals in a bid to prevent the exploitation of their network to accumulate organs but not share with the general pool of organs.

Under the new regulations, if a hospital with several branches conducts an organ transplant, it must contribute the next available cadaver organ from any of its branches to the common pool. Earlier, each branch was separate, and hence hospitals could purchase more organs without obligatory contributions. Now, all branches of a hospital will be considered as one in organ allocation.

States are mandated to adhere to the National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP) guidelines (2020-2025) and work towards bridging the gap between organ supply and demand. ^[1] In the government sector, organ transplants are authorised at institutions such as NIMS, Gandhi, Osmania, and ESIC hospitals, along with 37 private hospitals, totalling 41 transplant centres in Hyderabad. Of these, 18 centers are branches of several major hospitals, while the remaining operate independently.

Significantly, two hospitals possess four branches each that are performing transplants. To counter this, authorities intend to strengthen Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for organ transplants that, while they exist, have not been properly implemented. A study showed that private hospitals, as an average, contribute only 2.5 organs in a period of five years while harvesting hundreds from the pool. The Union health ministry has also asked the states and Union Territories to investigate and take firm action against those hospitals that conduct illegal organ transplants, placing priority on vigilance over foreign transplant cases. Latest reports have thrown the spotlight on stricter monitoring and compliance with the law regarding organ transplants. Hospitals in some instances have put transplants for wealthy patients ahead of ethical organ allocation guidelines.

National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) is a central information hub for organ donation and organ transplantation in India. It supports online hospital registration for networking and the establishment of a national registry. Organ failure patients can register to receive an organ from a deceased donor at the hospital where they are seeking treatment. NOTTO also offers facilities to take online and offline pledges for organ and tissue donation. ^[1]

For ensuring transparency, authorities seek to implement a centralised digital monitoring system to track real-time availability and distribution of organs, decreasing gaps and malpractice. Such actions are geared towards ensuring transparency, accountability, and fair allocation of organs to the extent that private hospitals are asked to give back to the common pool of organs in an equitable manner and that organ transplant procedures are brought under ethical and legal compliance.

References

1. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. "National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO)." Available at: https://mohfw.gov.in/?q=%2Fpress-info%2F7600

(Rehash/Pragati Sakhuja)