Health Ministry directs States, medical institutions to create permanent posts for transplant coordinators

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Union Health Ministry has issued a warning to States and institutions that continue without regular transplant coordinators posts, cautioning them that a medical centre’s request for support for transplant coordinators would not be considered beyond the current financial year 2024-25, specifically from States and institutions that have already surpassed the five-year period for receiving such support.  

Under the current National Organ Transplant Programme Scheme (2020-21 to 2025-26), there is a provision for supporting government medical colleges with two transplant coordinators and a trauma centre; and private medical colleges that are performing well with one transplant coordinator.

Organ donation in India is regulated under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994, which states that no hospital shall be registered for transplantation procedures unless the appropriate authority is satisfied that the hospital has appointed a transplant coordinator with the prescribed qualifications and experience. 

The commitment for the positions is five years, during which time the State government and medical colleges are expected to create permanent positions for these roles. “However, it has come to our attention that no significant efforts have been made towards the creation of regular transplant coordinator posts in the State/Institutions,’’ the Ministry’s letter to the stakeholders said. 

Highlighting that having a transplant coordinator is a legally mandated requirement for hospitals carrying out transplants or organ retrieval for grant of registration under THOTA, States and institutes are now being instructed to take the necessary steps to create permanent posts for transplant coordinators in accordance with the workload by the next financial year.

India currently has about 750 institutions providing organ transplant services. The transplant coordinator plays a critical role in coordinating the entire process of deceased organ donation and transplantation. This includes coordinating for brain stem death identification and certification, grief counselling, encouraging family members to consider organ donation, consent for donation, coordinating between donor and recipient hospitals, liaising with various retrieval teams, recipient and donor matching, logistics management, ensuring the smooth operation of all aspects of organ retrieval, packing etc., and providing support to the donor’s family.

India faces an acute shortage of organs for transplants. Data with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare show that out of a total of 36,640 transplants from deceased and living donors, 29,695 were performed on male patients and 6,945 were performed on female patients from 1995 to 2021. The country registered 18,378 organ transplants in 2023.