For the first time, over 15,000 transplants held in 2022: Union health secretary

Bhushan said to improve transplant facilities in the country three areas needed focus—restructuring of the programme, a communication strategy, and skilling of professionals. He said although the structure of the national coordinator NOTTO, the four regional coordinators ROTTO, and the state-level SOTTOs exist, they need to work as “well-oiled machinery.”

With the age restriction done away with, the Union health secretary also said it was important to update the communication and awareness strategy so that more potential organ donors come forward, seeing the growing geriatric population of the country in need of such treatments. The government recently did away with the age cap of 65 years for receiving organs from deceased donors.

The guidelines were also revised to state that anyone can register to receive an organ in any state and that they should not be charged any registration fee. There were some states that either did not register people from other states or gave higher priority to those from within the states. Other states such as Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, and Telangana used to charge Rs 5,000 to 10,000 to register recipients on the waiting list of organs.

Bhushan also said there was a need to train the technical manpower already available in the country to efficiently utilise physical infrastructure and equipment available across the country. He said despite having over 640 medical college hospitals across the country, transplants have remained a specialised service that is available only in very few hospitals. “There is a need to expand the number of institutions where surgeries and transplants are undertaken,” he said adding that this optimal utilisation of resources has to be ensured along with training of healthcare workers for transplantation.

In addition, he said, high case load institutions should be identified and brought under the NOTTO network as Centres of Excellence at the state and regional levels where specialised services can be provided to the needy.

For training, Bhushan suggested re-orientation through training programs, newly designed courses, and digital interventions for healthcare professionals and domain knowledge experts. He added there was a need for multi-stakeholder exercise in effective communication to make people realise their contribution towards the greater good.