Central government amends organ donation rules in India

In a major change to the organ donation policy, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently said that the clause that people beyond 65 years can not receive cadaver organ transplants has been done away with. This means that the age cap of 65 years for receiving an organ from a dead donor, and guidelines to allow the elderly to register on waiting lists have been revised.

The Narendra Modi government has also abolished the requirement of a Domicile Certificate as it called for a ‘One Nation, One Organ Allocation’ policy. Now, no registration fee will be charged by the states for organ transplants. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also decided to introduce a chapter in the school curriculum regarding organ donation to make the students aware of the process.

As per the process, the patient will be given a unique ID by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) upon registering, which will be taken forward even if the patient changes many hospitals in different states.

As per the official data, the number of organ transplants rose from 4,990 in 2013 to 15,561 in 2022. The total number of kidney transplants from living donors has shown an increase from 3,495 in 2013 to 9,834 in 2022 and from deceased donors, the number increased from 542 to 1,589 in 2022.

This major change is even more significant as people who were waiting for organ transplants could register to take organs in their state. The states now cannot charge a fee. In different states across India, the registration fee was fixed at Rs 5,000 to 10,000 for getting the organ.

India has the third-highest number of transplants in the world. Annually, an estimated 1.5-2 lakh people require a kidney transplant. Only around 10,000 were able to get one in 2022. Of the 80,000 people who needed a liver transplant, less than 3,000 got it in 2022. And, of the 10,000 who needed a heart transplant, only 250 got it in 2022, according to official data.

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