25 years after India passed a law on organ transplants, lack of awareness remains an impediment in its way
It has been 25 years since India had its own organ transplants Act, the Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA), 1994. Yet awareness remains one of the biggest impediments in the way of the country’s organ transplant programme.
“People’s participation and people’s awareness is the key for encouraging organ donation.” said minister of state for health Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Monday at the silver jubilee function of THOA. The function was organized by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO). Giving a clarion call for “Angdaan, Mahadaan, Mahakalyan,” Choubey said that people’s participation has to be ensured for this noble cause and children have to be made aware of it from the beginning. He urged other departments of the government to be involved in this movement for encouraging organ donation.
“This will allow a fair and seamless allocation of organs and tissues to recipients across all societal divides. The final aim of a central digitized organ allocation system that ensures a transparent allocation to recipients, both rich and poor, can only be achieved through updated data of all states and hospitals on the national database,”
In his address, Choubey said that many myths and misconceptions surround organ donation. Very often, organ donation gets discouraged on the basis of superstitions. He urged people to come forward for organ donation without any fear. He also urged the states to share their data with NOTTO so that National Donor and Recipient Registries can be maintained at the central level.
“This will allow a fair and seamless allocation of organs and tissues to recipients across all societal divides. The final aim of a central digitized organ allocation system that ensures a transparent allocation to recipients, both rich and poor, can only be achieved through updated data of all states and hospitals on the national database,” he elaborated.
He also unveiled the silver jubilee copy of ‘The Transplantation of Human Organs Act (THOA), 1994’ and launched the online system for the objective of “Million for a Billion” pledges. Also present at the event were Dr. S. Venkatesh, Director General Health Services, Mandeep Bhandari, Joint Secretary, MoHFW and other senior officers from the Ministry and state offices.
