Around 40,000 patients registered for kidney transplant, 13,430 for liver transplant up to 2022: Govt

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• Aug 4, 2023 | Dhupali Das

Around 40,000 patients have been registered for kidney transplants and 13,430 for liver transplants...

Digital Desk: Around 40,000 patients have been registered for kidney transplants and 13,430 for liver transplants up to 2022, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

The government stated that in that year, 11,705 kidney transplants were done, while 3,920 patients underwent liver transplants.

Data regarding the exact number of Indians requiring various organ transplants is not available, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said. In the case of heart transplants, 2,048 patients were listed in the national registry as waiting for transplants up to 2022, but only 243 transplants were performed in that year, Mandaviya said. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) manages the register.

The minister stated that 1,320 people have registered for lung transplants, 181 for pancreas transplants, and 57 for intestine transplants. He informed the House that of them, 144 underwent lung transplant procedures, 26 pancreas transplant procedures and three intestine transplant procedures. "Data on the exact number of Indians requiring organ transplantation is not available," he said, adding that the government has decided to eliminate the requirement for domicile registration in states and union territories in order to promote organ donation.

On January 3, a meeting with states and union territories was conducted with the goal of putting the 'One Nation, One Policy' into action.  It was noted that the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act and its rules provide that a patient requiring a Deceased Donor Organ for Transplant (DDOT) can seek an organ transplant from any registered transplant hospital, and the transplant hospital will register his or her request with the national registry for inclusion on the waiting list, Mandaviya said.

He said that a unique identity will be provided by the NOTTO to each of these registered patients.

Mandaviya stated that the patient would be counted as a resident of the state in which the transplant hospital is located.

The patient may also change the transplant hospital after initial registration, and the unique identity used to determine precedence in the waiting list will remain the same, the ministry said.

Further, it has been agreed that no fees will be imposed for registering patients for deceased donor organ transplantation, he added.

A person of any age can now register to receive deceased donor organ transplantation. Mandaviya stated that the previous NOTTO policy restricted registration to patients under the age of 65.

The health ministry issued a communiqué demanding that states comply with the new policy's notified norms.

According to the minister, based on input gathered in NOTTO from states and union territories, the majority of them have now stopped charging fees for registering patients to receive donor organs.