Centre calls for stronger state mechanism to improve organ donation

The Centre has advised states to train first responders, designate special hospital teams, upgrade trauma centres and register them as organ retrieval centres to encourage organ donation, which currently stands at less than one deceased donor per million population.
In a letter to states, Dr Anil Kumar, Director of the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), said India faces a critical shortage of organs, with thousands awaiting transplants.
Citing the “Road Accidents in India 2023” report, he said around 1.7 lakh people were killed in road accidents last year—many of whom could have been potential donors but were lost due to lack of timely identification and referral.
The Centre said that while saving lives is the first priority, organ donation should be considered in identified brain-stem death cases as per the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.
Police personnel, ambulance drivers, EMTs and para-medical staff can play a vital role in identifying potential donors and ensuring timely referral.
States have been asked to organise state- and district-level training programmes for first responders, integrating modules on organ donation awareness, brain-stem death identification and SOPs for trauma referrals. Ambulance services, including 108 and 102, must ensure participation of their staff.
The letter called for upgrading trauma centres with required infrastructure and manpower for organ harvesting and registering them as organ retrieval centres under state authorities.
In a separate letter, NOTTO urged states to also promote tissue and bone donation, noting that India requires nearly one lakh corneas annually but meets only one-third of the demand. Tissues such as corneas, skin, bones and heart valves can be harvested within six to ten hours of death.
Hospitals have been advised to create organ and tissue donation teams, ensure mandatory notification of all deaths, and counsel families of potential donors, even if they decline organ donation.