What has NOTTO said about organ donations to women? | Explained

The story so far: The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) recently issued a direction stating that women patients and relatives of deceased donors will receive priority in organ allocation. This is part of a 10-point advisory aimed at addressing gender disparity in organ transplants and encouraging donations.

Is there a gender disparity?

An article titled ‘India’s organ transplant paradox: women donate the most and receive the least’’ published in the British Medical Journal noted that as per data released by NOTTO, 63.8% of all living organ donors from 2019 to 2023 were women. Yet men received the most donated organs, accounting for 69.8% of the recipients. The data further said that in the past five years women made 36,038 of the 56,509 living organ donations in India, yet only 17,041 were transplanted into women, while 39,447 went to men.

What laws oversee organ donation?

The Central Government has established NOTTO as the apex government body to oversee organ donations. Each hospital of the country which engages in transplant activity, whether in retrieval or transplant, must link with the NOTTO. Organ transplantation and donation is covered under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994, which has allowed organ donation by live and brain-stem dead donors. In 2011, an amendment to the Act also brought in donation of human tissues. As per the Act, buying/selling of organs in any way is punishable and has a significant financial as well as judicial penalty.

In its recent advisory, the NOTTO has asked State governments to create permanent posts for transplant coordinators at hospitals that perform organ transplantation or retrieval. “It is advised that you develop facilities for organ and tissue retrieval in all trauma centres and register them as organ retrieval centres,’’ the letter said, while calling for training emergency responders and ambulance staff to identify potential deceased donors early, particularly among victims of road traffic accidents and stroke patients.

What is the status of organ donation?

Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 1,30,000 solid organ transplants are performed each year, but this meets only about 10% of the worldwide need. Countries with higher awareness and streamlined donor systems have achieved significantly better outcomes, showing what is possible when organ donation becomes a social norm.

An organ donor can be anyone whose healthy organs are transplanted to a patient in urgent need. These organs, donated after brain or cardiac death, can be preserved and transplanted to save multiple lives. “Every year, over 1.8 lakh Indians develop end-stage kidney disease, yet only about 12,000 kidney transplants take place across the country. Even a small increase in organ donation rates could help thousands of patients get a second chance at life,’’ said Sushanth Kulkarni, senior consultant urologist, laparoscopic and renal transplant surgeon at CARE Hospital, Telangana.

Doctors note that lack of awareness, cultural myths, and hesitation to discuss organ donation within families remain the biggest obstacles. But with modern transplantation techniques and effective medicines, recipients can live long and healthy lives. A single donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and enhance many more through tissue donation such as corneas and skin.

Are appeals made for organs?

According to information released by the Central Government, any special appeal usually results in more people agreeing to become donors. However, family appeals will not result in an organ immediately becoming available for the person on whose behalf the appeal was made. The patient will still be on the waiting list, just like everyone else, and the rules that govern the matching and allocation of donor organs to recipients still apply.