Irregularities in Organ Transplantation

Why in news?

Some irregularities in connection with organ transplantations have been found in the state of Tamil Nadu.

How has TN been in organ transplantation?

• Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in orderly and transparent allocation of deceased-donor organs.
• It has worked consistently to eliminate commerce in kidneys procured from poor living donors.
• The Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu has served as a model for other States.
• The state also offers a subsidy for poor patients for a liver transplant.
• Every effort must be made to ensure that it retains this high reputation.

What is the recent finding?

• The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has found some irregularities in organ transplantation in TN.
• Preferential allotment of hearts and lungs has been made to foreign patients.
• Hearts harvested from brain-dead patients were given to foreign nationals admitted to corporate hospitals.
• International patients get priority in cadaver transplants, bypassing long list of Indians.
• The Directorate General of Health Services convened a meeting and framed strict guidelines for allocation of organs to foreigners.

What is the procedure?

• The provisions are laid out in the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules.
• State governments are expected to ensure that transplantations are done legally and ethically.
• Citizens enrolled in the State and national waiting lists are prioritised over foreign nationals.
• Organs go to the most suitable recipients on the rule-based parameters.
• It is offered to domicile, citizenship, Indian origin and foreign nationality, in that order.

What lies ahead?

• There must be an inquiry into how allocations for organ transplants are made in Tamil Nadu.
• Any inquiry should shed light on the factors that led to the decisions.
• It should importantly include whether registered citizens were overlooked.
• Hospitals and professionals engaging in commerce or unethical behaviour should be addressed.
• It has to cover such issues as the capacity of district-level hospitals to perform transplants.
• Arrangements to air-lift organs should also be addressed, since domestic patients are unable to afford flight facilities.
• Enrolling all domestic patients through State registries should be the priority for the NOTTO.

Source: The Hindu

Quick Fact

NOTTO

• The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) functions under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• It is an all-India apex body for coordination and networking for procurement and distribution of organs/tissues and transplantation.