As most transplant centres inactive, Maha launches drive to boost deceased organ donation

State has 132 organ transplant centres and 47 non-transplant organ retrieval centres (NTORCs), yet thousands of patients continue to wait for kidneys, livers and hearts amongst other vital organs

The public health department of Maharashtra has launched a focused drive to boost deceased organ donation, admitting that more than half of the state’s registered transplant centres are performing below expectations despite a rapidly rising demand for organs, health officials said on Wednesday.

Following directions from health minister Prakash Abitkar, the department over the past few months has intensified efforts to increase brain-dead deceased donations and reduce reliance on live donors. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Following directions from health minister Prakash Abitkar, the department over the past few months has intensified efforts to increase brain-dead deceased donations and reduce reliance on live donors. Review meetings and workshops with government and private hospitals have been held in Aurangabad, Nanded, Thane and Pune to strengthen coordination and counselling of donor families.

A state-level consultation and meeting was held on February 9 at Pune Zilla Parishad under the guidance of minister Abitkar. The programme was attended by Dr Abhay Huparikar, ZTCC Pune; Dr Ramchandra Hankare, district health officer, Pune; Dr Yallappa Jadhav, Sassoon General Hospital and B.J. Medical College, and Dr Nina Borade, health chief, Pune Municipal Corporation. Additionally, over 125 doctors, transplant coordinators and hospital representatives participated.

During the session, Dr Bhagwan Pawar, deputy director of health services, explained provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA) 1994 and its 2011 amendments. He stressed that private hospitals must mandatorily register, and report every brain-death case, maintain proper records and coordinate with NOTTO, SOTTO, ROTTO and ZTCC authorities. “Every brain-dead patient is an opportunity to save multiple lives. Hospitals must see this as a moral responsibility,” he said. “At the same time, ethics, consent and transparency are critical to prevent illegal organ trade.”

Dr Abhijit Phadnis, assistant director at the state health commissionerate, guided hospitals on registration procedures, fees and penalties under the Act and urged institutions to strictly follow legal provisions on authorisation, reporting and hospital regulation.

Calling for urgent reforms, he said, “Without immediate action, the waiting list will keep growing and patients will suffer preventable deaths. We must shift our focus from live donation to brain-dead deceased donation. Social hesitation and lack of counselling remain major barriers. Hospitals have been asked to create trained grief-counselling teams and conduct awareness drives so more families consent to donation.”

The state has 132 organ transplant centres and 47 non-transplant organ retrieval centres (NTORCs), yet thousands of patients continue to wait for kidneys, livers and hearts amongst other vital organs. Many centres remain active only on paper and contribute little to actual organ retrieval or transplantation, according to health officials.

The department plans stricter monitoring of underperforming centres and capacity-building programmes to improve retrieval rates. The objective is to maximise organs from each deceased donor and bridge the widening gap between supply and demand, said the officials.