Vinod Kumar Paul, member, Health, Niti Aayog
A person after his death can give new life to up to 8 people by donating vital organs namely Kidney, Liver, Lung, Heart, Pancreas and Intestine and improve quality life of many more by donating tissues like cornea, skin, bone and heart valve etc.
New Delhi: Dr. Vinod Kumar Paul, member, Health, Niti Aayog, informed that kidney transplantation is covered under the AB PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) and called upon insurance companies to cover organ transplantation.
Participating at the 14th Indian Organ Donation Day ceremony, organized by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) in New Delhi on Saturday, he highlighted significant efforts made by the Union Government to ensure ease of organ transplantation like the “One Nation, One Policy” which removed the domicile and age-related roadblocks to organ transplantation.
He highlighted the huge gap between the demand for and supply of organs and noted the need for institutional reforms in the government hospitals to take up the challenge of organ transplantation. He lamented that there are only around 750 institutions providing organ transplantation services and encouraged the other institutions to also come forward to provide such services.
Union Health Secretary, Apurva Chandra highlighted the need to enhance awareness about organ donation as there are a large number of people registering for need of organs. He mentioned that “although India ranks third in organ transplantation, since most organ donations happen amongst family members, there is a need to inspire people to register for organ donation”.
He also stressed that “to ensure that there is no organ wastage, we must strengthen our system. When we receive any brain-dead person, the time is less and we have to harvest the organs in 12 hours and the transplant has to happen within a short window. Hence, we have to improve our systems and it’s a big responsibility for NOTTO, SOTTO and ROTTO.”
Stating that proper transportation of organs for future transplantation assumes much more significance, the health ministry on Saturday released a 44-page standard operating procedure (SOP) for ensuring proper organ transportation.
The SOP that has been prepared in collaboration between the health ministry, Niti Aayog, National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) and other various stakeholders highlighted six different modes of transpiration including by air, ambulance, metro, defence, roads & highways, trains and waterways. Although transportation of organs through these different modes follow almost similar procedures, it has some sector wise specifications.
A person after his death can give new life to up to 8 people by donating vital organs namely Kidney, Liver, Lung, Heart, Pancreas and Intestine and improve quality life of many more by donating tissues like cornea, skin, bone and heart valve etc. People are encouraged to come forward to pledge for a noble cause and contribute in this national endeavor
First of all, for motivating the general public, politicians and bureaucrats must come forward and register themselves for organ donations. Otherwise, they should expect Bhagat Singh to be born in neighbor’s family.