The Union health ministry has proposed providing “social support’’ of up to Rs 5 lakh to the dependants of an organ donor in cases of cadaver organ donation.

The social support will be provided not in the form of cash but by sponsoring medical treatment or education of dependents, said Dr Vasanthi Ramesh, director, National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO). The proposal under the National Organ Transplant Programme is currently under consideration of the finance ministry, Ramesh said.

The health ministry, she added, will provide Rs 1 lakh to hospitals for maintenance of the donor who has been declared brain dead till the organs are retrieved. Such patients, require to be infused with fluids and medication to maintain their organs

According to a senior health ministry official, the gap between the number of recipients and donors is very wide and thousands of people spend years hoping for a donor to give them a new lease of life. The official said that as per estimates, the annual requirement of kidney transplant for new cases is around two lakh with merely 8,000 transplants happening annually.

(Source: TOI, Nov 23, 2018)

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Elect Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania   (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Immediate Past National President IMA