Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said far-sighted structural changes are in the offing to reform the organ donation and organ transplant sector in the country.

Mandaviya reviewed the status of organ donations and transplants with senior officers of the Health Ministry on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of total organ transplants in the country has substantially increased from less than 5,000 in 2013 to more than 15,000 in 2022.

Now, more organs per deceased donor are being utilised due to better coordination through the Network of Organ and Tissues Transplant Organisations at the National (NOTTO), Regional (ROTTO) and State levels (SOTTO). In 2016, 2,265 organs were utilised from 930 deceased donors while 2,765 could be utilised from 904 deceased donors in 2022.

NOTTO is working on a Transplant Manual as a step-by-step guide for implementing Organ Donation and Transplantation Programme in hospitals and also on a Standard Course for training Transplant Coordinators. Both these documents will be completed and released shortly, the Ministry said in a statement.

Four verticals for coordination, IEC, Training and HR/accounts have been created in the NOTTO for better implementation of the programme.

Recently, the central government granted special casual leaves of up to 42 days to central government employees, who donate an organ to another human being, as a special welfare measure in public interest.The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is also imbibing learnings from international best practices for further policy reforms towards the augmentation of organ donation and transplantation in the country, the Ministry said in a statement.