“There is a need to promote organ donation from deceased persons and “brain stem dead” people to meet the huge need for organ donation in the country. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has highlighted the importance of organ donation and has given special emphasis on the fact that one organ donor can give new life to up to 8 people.” This was stated by Smt. Anupriya Patel, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare on the occasion of the 14^th Indian Organ Donation Day ceremony organized by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), here today in the presence of Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog.

Addressing the occasion, Smt. Patel lauded the family members of deceased organ donors for “doing the greatest service to mankind by saving the lives of numerous people”. Calling them an inspiration for the entire country, she encouraged the countrymen to step forward to pledge to donate their organs after death. “It is only through the concerted efforts of every individual and institutions that India can realise its vision of becoming one of the leading countries in organ donation and transplantation”, she said.

The Union Minister said that though many countries like Spain, the USA and China are much ahead in organ donation, India has also made some notable achievements in this field in recent times. She also urged officials to take all steps to ensure that no received organs are wasted before getting transplanted.

Dr. Vinod Kumar Paul who was also the Guest of Honour at the event 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.

Dr Paul 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. He also 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 ended his address by paying tribute to the organ donors and urging people to unitedly come forward towards this noble cause.

Union Health Secretary, Shri 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.”

On the occasion, the Union Minister felicitated 10 family members of deceased donors for their brave decision of donating organs of their loved ones and four recipients of organ donation. Awards were also presented to the best performing States, Regional and State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organizations, medical colleges and institutions, professional societies, medical professionals and Non-Governmental Organizations, etc. to recognize their contribution in the field of organ donation and transplantation. ROTTO North-PGIMER, Chandigarh won the Best ROTTO Award. Telangana bagged the Award for Best SOTTO/State, while Tamil Nadu and Karnataka received the Award for second best SOTTO/ State. Manipur was conferred with Best Emerging State in North East Award. The states winning the Emerging States in Organ Donation Award were: 1) Andhra Pradesh 2) Madhya Pradesh, and 3) Jammu & Kashmir. Award for the best Non-Transplant Organ Retrieval Centres (NTORC) was received by Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad while the Emerging NTORC were: 1. Command Hospital, Chandmandir, and 2. Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Himachal Pradesh. Rajasthan was awarded as the State with Best Awareness/IEC activities. Best Hospital in Private Sector with Highest Deceased Donation Award was received by Yashoda Hospital, Secundrabad. Special Award to Central Govt. Hospital for Efficient Revival of Deceased Organ Donation Programme was won by Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi. Special Award to State Hospital for efficient Revival of Deceased Organ Donation Programme was received by KEM Hospital, Mumbai. The best Brain Stem Death Certifying Team (Region wise) were: 1. West - New Civil Hospital, Surat; 2. North - AllMS, Delhi; 3. South - KIMS, Secundrabad; 4. East - IPGMER, Kolkata.

The event also witnessed the launch of an e-Newsletter, NOTTO’s Annual Report and a manual providing an introduction to the Organ Transport Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

As a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a special campaign ‘Angdaan Mahotsav’ was organised in the year 2023 throughout the country as a “Jan Andolan”. The month of July is observed as the Organ Donation Month. This year under the campaign titled “Angdaan Jan Jagrukta Abhiyaan” various awareness activities are being organized across the country from city to village level through all Central Government Ministries/Departments, State/UT Governments/National, Regional and State Organ & Tissue networking organizations/Hospitals / Institutions and Medical Colleges, NGOs and other stakeholders.

The event was also attended by Dr Anil Kumar, Director, NOTTO; Delhi Police personnel, organ recipients, students, as well as senior officials from the Union Health Ministry.

Background:

The Union Government is committed to promote Organ and Tissue donation. The Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has highlighted the importance of organ donation many times in episodes of “Mann ki Baat” program.

The Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD) is observed annually since 2010 to augment awareness about brain stem death and organ donation, dispel myths and misconceptions associated with organ donation and motivate and encourage the citizens of the country to donate organs and tissues after death, as well as to imbibe the values of organ donation in their lives. To reduce the demand for organ transplantation, campaign activities also promote adoption of healthy lifestyles, wellness and take steps for prevention of organ failure. The 14^th IODD is an opportunity to motivate people to donate organs in order to bridge the existing gap between the number of people in need of organs for transplant and the number of donors.

Every donated organ is precious, lifesaving and a national resource. 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. For any information on organ donation and transplantation one can visit the website of NOTTO www.notto.mohfw.gov.in or call tollfree helpline number 180114770.

This year under the campaign “Angdaan Jan Jagrukta Abhiyaan” various awareness activities have been organized across the country from city to village level involving all Central Government Ministries/Departments, State/UT Governments/National, Regional and State Organ & Tissue networking organisations/Hospitals / Institutions and Medical Colleges, NGOs and other stakeholders. Under the Abhiyaan, the month of July was observed as the Organ Donation Month. To facilitate citizens to pledge for organ and tissue donation, a web portal https://notto.abdm.gov.in is functional through which till now, more than 1.7 lakh citizens have come forward and registered their pledge since 17^th September, 2023.

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MV

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