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.