New transplant policy to curb rackets
Written by Meenaa on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
New transplant policy to curb rackets
NEW DELHI: Union health ministry has finalised the amendments to the Human Organ Transplant Act in a step which is designed to facilitate the donation of organs but which does not go far in bridging the huge demand-supply gap.
The proposed amendments to the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, seeks to broaden the pool of donors and increase the supply of organs by widening the definition of ‘near relatives’ by providing swapping of organs among needy families as well as by simplifying the procedures for cadaver transplants.
They also propose a ban on the donation of organs to foreigners by Indians, marking a blow to the illegal practice which saw ‘Dr’ Amit Kumar amassing a fortune by lining up Indian ‘donors’ for his foreign clientele who, unable to source the organs back home, came to India.
Swaps exchange between families who are unable to fulfil the need of their members needing a transplant themselves because of incompatability are not known. But they are not legal and are done under cover. The amendment seeks to convert the de facto into de jure and can encourage more families to swap organs among themselves. Each swap will be vetted by an authorisation committee.
The broadening of the definition of ‘near relative’ close relations who are allowed under the 1994 law to donate organs to a needy kin to include grand parents and grand children, significantly widens the pool of donors.
The availability of organ is sought to be boosted also by authorising designated surgeons and physicians and not just neurosurgeons as is currently the case to allow the removal of organs. For the same purpose, government has proposed to introduce the concept of ‘required request’ where hospitals will be allowed by the Centre to ask their ICU patients whether they would be willing to donate organs. To begin with, ‘required request’ innovation would be limited to corneas.
Announcing that the legislation titled Transplantation of Human Organs and Tiesues Act to reflect advancement in medical technology which has made tissue transplant a reality would shortly be introduced in Parliament, Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss told the media in Chennai that under the new law it would be mandatory for the ICUs to declare all brain deaths and register those with an online central organ registry.
Besides, the health ministry has decided to work for making it possible for a prospective donor to mention their willigness to donate on their driving licence. “Simple interventions such as this step would improve the availability of cadaver donor,” said an official.
The new law also seeks to prohibit the removal of human organs or tissues from the body of a living minor except for the donation of regenerative cells within family when no therapeutically compatible adult donor is available, and kidney transplantation between identical twins.
While the changes are sure to be welcomed, they may not make a dent in the problem of huge organ shortfall. While the demand for organs has been estimated to be in the range of 3-5 lakh, the availability is meagre.
16 Nov 2008, Mahendra Kumar Singh, TNN
