Organ donation picks up: 13 lakh pledged organs in 2016, says NOTTO chief

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He praised the efforts of ZTCC at Mumbai, Pune and other cities in Maharashtra where organ donation was picking up. However, the NOTTO chief admitted that myths and superstitions are still prevalent across the nation and this gap needs to be fixed. “At NOTTO, our aim is that not a single organ should be wasted. To that purpose, a pilot project has also been launched in New Delhi to provide monetary incentives to doctors at central government hospitals to encourage organ donation,” he said.

Besides, the NOTTO team is visiting each state and encouraging medical colleges, university students and even spreading awareness about organ donation via strategies like walkathons. “Recently, kites bearing the message —Donate Your Organs — could be seen on Makar Sankranti in Gujarat,” he said.

The networking of hospitals is underway through the NOTTO website and registered hospitals also require to update data. He admitted that the national registry/waiting list of patients who need organs and tissues needs to be updated. While we are aware that there are more than two lakh persons who need kidneys, each state needs to update the data and send accurate figures, he pointed out.

While a total of 301 hospitals have been registered as organ transplant centres across the country. So far, only 152 have been registered with NOTTO.

“We also need more organ retrieval centres and have proposed that each district should set up one.” Bhandari said.