Latest news with #NOTTO
Mint
19 hours ago
- Health
- Mint
Health ministry report bats for liver and heart transplants under PMJAY
New Delhi: The union health ministry has called for including liver and heart transplants under the government's flagship health insurance scheme, the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). This assumes importance given that health insurance schemes in the country cover life and disability, but not organ donation. Also Read | Why are men ignoring their hormonal health? The recommendation comes in a report, titled the National Review Meeting on Organ Transplantation Activities in Government Hospitals, prepared by the National Organ Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), a top body which manages organ transplantation, under the health ministry. The call for expanding insurance coverage comes in the backdrop of the low number of organ transplants performed in India. Mint has seen a copy of the report, which has been submitted to health ministry. Also Read | Want glowing skin? Take care of your mental health AB PM-JAY is the world's largest health insurance scheme, providing health cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year. Notably, the scheme's ambit has been expanded to include free treatment benefits of up to ₹5 lakh per year to senior citizens aged 70 years and above. Earlier this month, a nationwide review meeting was conducted on organ transplants in government hospitals by a group of top government experts to identify bottlenecks in the system and formulate a roadmap for improvement. The report underlined that government institutions have inadequate capacities and that new centres are required to be established and made functional. It emphasized the need for a multi-pronged strategy involving policy changes, financial investment, and capacity building to bridge the demand-supply gap in organ transplantation. Also Read | ₹1-crore health cover is fast becoming a necessity. But how to afford one? The report highlighted a huge gap between demand and supply: while India requires at least 100,000 kidney transplants per year, only 13,476 were performed in 2024 across both government and private centers. 'These recommendations aim to strengthen India's organ transplantation capabilities and make life-saving procedures more accessible to those in need. During the nationwide assessment of the government hospitals, we identified their challenges and suggested measures to improve their capabilities in terms of infrastructure, finance, manpower etc. We have submitted our report to the health ministry and now the ministry will take action on these recommendations," said Dr. Anil Kumar, director, NOTTO. One of the key recommendations is to include comprehensive inclusion of liver and heart transplantation in national health schemes like PMJAY, he added. 'Some states like Maharashtra and Delhi have expanded their coverage under the PM-JAY scheme. So, the recommendation of the report to include liver and heart transplantation under PM-JAY may be considered to accelerate organ transplantation in the government institutions," he said. Dr Anup Kumar, head of kidney transplant and urology department at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, said, ' It is a welcome move. PMJAY offers coverage of up to ₹5 lakh, but these are very expensive procedures require ₹20-25 lakh in the private sector. However, in government institutions these transplants can be done in ₹10 lakh. So, to cover these two transplants, the government has to also consider increasing the coverage plan of PMJAY from ₹5 lakh to at least ₹10 lakh." Further, to bridge the critical demand-supply gap, the expert group has put forth several key recommendations, which include financial incentives for transplant teams, enhanced funding for infrastructure development, establishment of dedicated transplant centres and robust training programmes for medical personnel and transplant coordinators. 'We have tried to understand why government institutions are not able to do the maximum number of organ transplants and what are the solutions. Do we require to build new centres or strengthen the existing capacities. Some government centres like Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC) Ahmedabad conducted a total of 508 organ transplants in the last year, including 195 cadaveric transplants, PGIMER Chandigarh performed 320 organ transplants including 55 cadaveric transplants," Dr. Kumar said. However, the report revealed that government institutions like GB Pant Hospital, New Delhi, despite having the physical infrastructure and licence, did not perform any organ transplants.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Family Donates Eyes Of Doc, Bats For Awareness From School Level
New Delhi: The Taneja family recently chose to donate the eyes of Dr Satyapal Taneja, their 82-year-old patriarch and former head of Tilaknagar MCD Hospital, after he died on June 7, as a tribute to his lifelong service in the medical field. Dr Taneja dedicated his career to patient care and community service until his retirement. "He was always focused on helping others," a family member said. "We believe this decision would align with what he valued throughout his life." In April last year, Dr Taneja was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumour. Despite surgical intervention, his condition deteriorated. His daughter, Dr Archana Arora, a dental surgeon and organ donation advocate through the Rotary Club of Organ Donation, stated that their decision reflected her father's principles. "It felt important to continue his legacy through eye donation," she said. "Being a family of doctors, we understood the limitations of organ donation in cases of natural death at home. Due to the presence of malignancy, most organs and tissues, including blood vessels and bones, were unsuitable for donation. The eyes remained the only viable option for donation in this circumstance. As physicians ourselves, with my mother being a gynaecologist, we were well-versed with these medical protocols," Dr Arora said. She discussed eye donation awareness in India. "Visual impairment affects roughly 2% of people due to various eye conditions, including corneal problems, glaucoma and cataracts. India has 1.1 million people suffering from corneal blindness. The country requires over 1 lakh corneal transplant procedures annually, yet only manages to perform about 25,000 transplants each year, falling significantly short of the demand," she said. By sharing their experience, the Taneja family hopes to encourage more families to consider eye donation, recognising its significant impact on those in need. She revealed that organ donation rates in India show less than one donor per million people, whilst yearly deaths from organ failure reach about 500,000 due to organ unavailability. Delhi faces similar issues, with NOTTO data showing thousands of dialysis patients awaiting organ transplants yearly. Including organ donation in school curricula will address misconceptions and provide accurate information to students, who will influence their families and communities, she said. An accessible organ donation emergency helpline should be pre-installed on mobile devices, offering immediate information and support for organ donation, ensuring swift responses and coordination for potential donors, Dr Arora added. "Our club's Lift UP (Life Increasing Funded Transplant for the Underprivileged) Project has supported eight free kidney transplants for economically disadvantaged women in Bengaluru, India, through a global grant from The Rotary Foundation (TRF). We suggest the Delhi govt expand this model citywide for maximum impact," Dr Arora said. She noted that insufficient organ retrieval centres hinder effective organ collection and transplantation. "We advocate establishing additional retrieval centres in key Delhi hospitals to improve infrastructure, expedite retrieval, and reduce viable organ wastage. These initiatives, when implemented, will establish Delhi as an exemplar for organ donation awareness and infrastructure in India," the doctor added.
Hindustan Times
09-06-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
42-year-old man from Beed undergoes rare small intestine transplant; organ airlifted from Delhi
MUMBAI: In a rare and clinically complex procedure, a 42-year-old man from Maharashtra's Beed district recently received a life-saving small intestine transplant at Nanavati Max Hospital in Mumbai. The transplant in the first week of May was made after a cadaveric organ was retrieved from a brain-dead donor in Delhi and transported over 1,400 kilometres within just under five hours — a feat requiring precision, interstate coordination, and rapid emergency logistics. The patient, Siddheshwar Dake, a resident of rural Beed in the drought-prone Marathwada region, had been suffering from worsening abdominal pain and gastrointestinal issues for more than two years. Despite consulting multiple hospitals, he received inconclusive diagnoses—ranging from ulcers to suspected malignancy. His condition continued to deteriorate until he was referred to the specialised liver, intestine, and pancreas outpatient department at Nanavati Max Hospital earlier in January. A detailed evaluation in February revealed that Dake had developed Superior Mesenteric Artery (SMA) thrombosis—a condition in which a blood clot blocks the major artery supplying the small intestine. The resulting loss of blood flow had led to extensive gangrene. 'He was in a hypercoagulable state, which increases the risk of clot formation. We had to act swiftly to remove the necrotic segment. However, an intestinal transplant was his only curative option,' said Dr Gaurav Chaubal, director of HPB surgery and liver and multi-organ transplant at the hospital. With no suitable living donor in the family, Dake was placed on the national cadaveric transplant registry in April. A month later, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) notified the Mumbai-based team about a matching donor in Delhi—a 21-year-old woman who had been declared brain-dead following a road traffic accident. Her family's consent to donate her organs enabled the transplant. A highly trained surgical retrieval team from Nanavati flew to Delhi to coordinate the organ harvest, working alongside Max Healthcare's hospitals at Shalimar Bagh and BLK-Max. Following the procedure, an emergency 'green corridor' was activated in both Delhi and Mumbai. Airport authorities, local police, and civic agencies collaborated to establish a traffic-free route, ensuring rapid and uninterrupted ground transportation between the hospitals and airports. 'The harvested organ was transported from the Delhi hospital to the airport with a police escort, then flown to Mumbai via a chartered medical aircraft. On arrival, it took less than 10 minutes to reach Nanavati Max Hospital due to the pre-cleared traffic route,' explained Dr Aditya J Nanavati, associate director of HPB surgery and liver and multi-organ transplant. 'Every minute counts, as the viability of the intestine outside the body is extremely limited.' The transplant surgery lasted around eight hours and was completed within the acceptable ischemic time. Post-operatively, Dake was closely monitored in a dedicated transplant ICU. After recovering with immunosuppressive therapy, infection control measures, and specialised nutritional support, he was discharged within three weeks and is currently in a stable condition, responding well to follow-up care. 'This is among the rarest forms of solid organ transplantation in India,' said Dr Vivek Talaulikar, COO (Western Region), Max Healthcare. 'Such procedures demonstrate the importance of clinical expertise and national-level collaboration in saving lives.' A NOTTO official from Delhi said, 'Compared to more common liver and kidney transplants, small intestine transplants are extremely rare due to surgical intricacies and complex post-operative care requirements.'
India Today
20-05-2025
- Health
- India Today
An organ donor can save seven lives: A full guide to this noble pledge
Organ donation is a life-saving medical intervention that has the power to transform lives. In India, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) regulates, coordinates and promotes organ donation and transplantation. Dr Anant Kumar, chairman, urology, kidney transplant and robotics, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, New Delhi, explains the humanity and technicalities of pledging your organs to save someone's donation can be categorised into two types: living organ donation and cadaveric (deceased) organ ORGAN DONATIONA healthy individual voluntarily donates an organ/tissue to a recipient in need. This is possible because some organs/tissues can be donated without significantly affecting the donor's health. The most commonly donated organs are kidney, liver, lung, pancreas, intestine, tissues (bone, skin). However, in clinical practice, only one kidney and part of the liver are (DECEASED) ORGAN DONATIONCadaveric donation takes place when a person is declared dead, either due to cardiac death or brain death. In such cases, multiple organs and tissues can be retrieved and transplanted to patients in and tissues that can be donated after death are heart, lung, liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestine, cornea (to restore vision), skin (for burn patients), heart valves, bones, tendons and DEATH AND ORGAN DONATIONadvertisementBrain death is a state in which a person has permanently lost all brain functions and reflexes, but their heart can still beat with medical support. Once brain death occurs, the body cannot survive. Some children, though, can survive with life support for 3-4 days.A team of independent doctors perform a series of clinical tests to confirm brain death. The process follows strict guidelines under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994 in key criteria are:Absent brainstem reflexes: No response to light, pain or other test: The patient is unable to breathe without ventilator of consciousness: No activity in the brain, confirmed through brain death is confirmed, the family is counselled about organ donation. If consent is given, organ retrieval is performed while the body is on artificial support to maintain OF NOTTONOTTO, operating under the Union ministry of health and family welfare, is responsible for regulation and coordination of organ donation, organ distribution and transplantation in India. Its functions are:Maintaining a database of patients awaiting transplants and allocating organs based on medical urgency and with hospitals, state authorities and transplant organisations to facilitate organ retrieval and educational programmes promoting organ ethical and legal guidelines are illegal organ trade and enforcing OF ORGAN DONATIONadvertisementFor living donation, the donor undergoes a comprehensive medical evaluation, including psychological counselling, to ensure they are fit for donation. Once found eligible, the organ is surgically retrieved and transplanted into the cadaveric donation, the patient is declared brain dead following strict medical protocols. Consent is thereby obtained from the family. The hospital informs NOTTO or a transplant organisation about the available organs. The organ allocation process takes place based on urgency and compatibility. Organs are retrieved and transported under sterile conditions to the recipient's ORGAN DONOR IS A HEROWith increasing awareness, better medical facilities and strong regulatory bodies like NOTTO, more people can be encouraged to become donors. Families of brain-dead individuals should consider organ donation as a way to give life even in death. By dispelling myths, legal hurdles and ethical challenges, India can progress towards a more efficient and compassionate organ donation donate your organs after death. You don't need organs in heaven. You can pledge organ donation now and let your family and friends know your wish. It will help them in taking a decision after your death. Be an organ donor and save up to seven to India Today Magazine
The Hindu
26-04-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
As India's kidney transplant gap widens, experts call for donor pool expansion
Every week, Imran Ali* travels over 30 kilometres to a dialysis centre, a routine that has kept him alive for nearly three years. Each session costs around ₹3,500, and when combined with medication and travel, his monthly medical expenses soar to ₹70,000–₹80,000. For Imran and his family, it's a relentless cycle of financial and emotional stress. 'We've sold land, borrowed from relatives, and still, I'm waiting for a transplant,' says Imran, who is currently at number 41,000 in a waiting list of over 2 lakh kidney transplant applicants in India. 'I was told not to expect a call anytime soon. I don't even know if I'll live long enough to move ahead in the list.' Imran's doctors have warned that he may not survive more than three months without a transplant. Imran's story is not unique. It reflects the reality of thousands of people across India suffering from end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), trapped in a system where need drastically outweighs availability. According to data from the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), kidney transplants are among the most sought-after and performed procedures in India. Experts suggest that addressing India's growing burden of ESKD requires a two-pronged approach: tackling the root cause of rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes and hypertension, and simultaneously addressing the critical shortage of organ donors. Growing need, limited response J. Amalorpavanathan ,founder-member secretary, Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu, observes that while the demand for kidney transplants has grown exponentially, the supply has not kept pace. 'Even countries like the United States and Spain, with well-established transplant programmes, are struggling. In India, the gap is much wider,' he says. As per estimates, between two to three lakh patients require a kidney transplant annually in India. Official data lists over 92,000 patients registered for transplants, but the real number is believed to exceed 2 lakh. Of the 13,600 transplants performed annually, just 1,851 involve deceased donors. The rest are from living donors, mostly close relatives. For those without a matching family donor, the chances become slim, and the waiting period, indefinite. Limesh M., consultant nephrologist and transplant physician at Narayana Health City, Bangaluru, explains, 'The risk of death for kidney transplant recipients is less than half that for those on long-term dialysis. It also dramatically improves quality of life.' Still, only 2.4% of patients with kidney failure in India undergo a transplant. The number of patients on waiting lists increases by 10% each year, but transplants grow at just 4%, say experts. The average wait time for a deceased donor kidney is between three and five years, and prolonged dialysis, which patients have to undergo while waiting, is not only a financial burdens but also reduces post-transplant survival and quality of life. Closing the gap: deceased and cardiac death donations One of the major ways to address this shortfall, according to Dr. Amalorpavanathan, is to improve the recognition and use of organs from brain-dead donors. He also stresses the need to include marginal donors, such as those aged between 60–70 who may have suffered a stroke. 'While these kidneys may not be ideal for younger patients, they can be life-saving for older recipients. Matching marginal donors with marginal recipients is a pragmatic step,' he says. Dr. Amalorpavanathan also emphasises the importance of initiating Donation After Cardiac Death (DCD) programmes in India. 'DCD is already practiced widely in countries like the U.K. and U.S.A. With proper systems in place, this could be a respectful and viable way of increasing organ availability,' he says. In DCD, organs are retrieved from patients who experience cardiac arrest in intensive care settings. Though medically complex, this method has been proven to extend donor pools significantly in other nations, he points out. The promise of kidney swaps When deceased donor kidneys are not available, living donors -- usually family members-- offer the next best option. However, India's legal restrictions on unrelated donors, meant to prevent commercial exploitation, often limit options for patients with incompatible relatives. Sunil Shroff, consultant urologist and transplant surgeon, cites the successful case of the first swap transplant in India the that led to NOTTO's decision to have a 'uniform one nation one swap transplant programme' . Dr. Shroff emphasis the potential of swap transplants (paired kidney exchanges). 'In March 2025, two incompatible donor-recipient pairs in Chhattisgarh were successfully matched through a swap programme,' he says. 'Both donors and recipients recovered well. If supported systematically, swap programmes could increase transplant numbers by 10 to 15 percent.' This approach is particularly useful for blood group or tissue match incompatibilities, where new drug therapies and plasma exchange can be costly, as Dr. Limish adds, 'With policy and institutional support, this model could be scaled nationally. Need to expand the donor pool Dr. Limesh stresses the urgent need to expand the donor pool. He suggests that increasing public awareness, encouraging families of brain-dead patients to consider donation, and using grief counselors to sensitively guide them can help bridge this gap. He highlights that transparency, empathy, and trust-building are essential, especially at the moment of loss. 'Ultimately, we need a combination of stronger public health measures to prevent kidney failure, improved policies that enable ethical donation, and sustained community education that fosters trust,' Dr. Limesh says. ' Policy, prevention, and awareness Solving India's transplant crisis also demands a multifaceted approach that addresses prevention, policy, and public awareness. A major step forward lies in strengthening public health systems to proactively manage and prevent conditions like diabetes and hypertension, which are leading causes of kidney failure. At the policy level, refining existing laws to encourage ethical and informed organ donations while safeguarding individuals from exploitation is crucial. Equally important is transforming public perception through sustained awareness campaigns that challenge cultural taboos and promote the importance of organ pledging. As Dr. Limish emphasises, 'Innovative approaches and continued public education are key to increasing the number of living and deceased donors. Only then can we offer a second chance to the growing number of Indians silently suffering from kidney failure.' (*Name changed to protect privacy)
