Inter-ministerial Panel to Push Organ Donation
NEW DELHI: The government has acknowledged that India is woefully short of organs required for transplantation and in order to address this gap, an inter-ministerial panel has been set up to coordinate activities related to organ donation.
“An inter-ministerial coordination committee headed by secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and comprising representatives from all ministries and departments concerned has been set up to coordinate various activities for the promotion of organ donation,” Health Minister JP Nadda said Friday.
Annually, two lakh kidneys are required for transplant but only 6,000 are available. Only 1,500 livers are available while the annual requirement is for 30,000 and in case of the heart, the yearly requirement is 50,000 whereas only 15 are available.
“There is a huge gap between the demand for and supply of human organs for transplantation... the government accords a very high priority for increasing the donation of cadaver organs to bridge the gap between the demand for and the supply of organs and save the lives of a large number of persons suffering from end-stage organ failure,” Nadda said.
Listing out various steps taken in this regard, Nadda said financial assistance was being provided under the National Organ Transplant Programme for hiring transplant coordinators in hospitals and trauma centres. Financial assistance has been sanctioned for establishing four Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Assam and Chandigarh, he added.
Demand & Supply
- 2 lakh kidneys required annually
- Only 6,000 available
- 30,000 liver transplants due every year
- Only 1,500 livers available
- 50,000 hearts required annually for transplantation
- Only 15 available