UPSC Exam Preparation: Topic of the Day – National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO)

National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) is a National level organization set up under Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). National Network division of NOTTO would function as apex centre for All India activities of coordination and networking for procurement and distribution of Organs and Tissues and registry of Organs and Tissues Donation and Transplantation in the country.

National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) has following two divisions:

1. National Human Organ and Tissue Removal and Storage Network
2. National Biomaterial Centre.

What does the law say?

• Going by the rule book, allocation of organs to recipients on the waiting list is based on criteria that include the date of registration and the medical condition of the recipient.
• The wealth, race or gender of a person on the waiting list has no bearing on when and whether a person will receive a donated organ.
• The Transplantation of Human Organs Act of 1994 makes it illegal to buy or sell human organs in India.

The shortage of organs is virtually a universal problem but India lags behind much of the rest of the world. It is not that there aren’t enough organs to transplant. Nearly every person who dies naturally, or in an accident, is a potential donor. There is a wide gap between patients who need transplants and the organs that are available in India. 

Issue Area:

• Bypassing Indian patients, foreigners are provided access to organs in breach of Norms established.
• Organs have been harvested without the consent of a brain-dead patient’s family in order to meet the needs of foreign nationals.
• In the year 2017, foreigners were the recipients in 31 heart transplants, 32 lung transplants, and 32 heart and lung transplants. During the same year, Indians were the recipients in 91 heart transplants, 75 lung transplants, and 6 heart and lung transplants.
• Interestingly, while the wait list of active patients as on June 9, 2018 had 53 foreigners, it had 5,310 Indians.
• Recently, NOTTO has flagged the organ transplant racket in Tamil Nadu.

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