Track ICU brain stem death instances to increase the incidence of organ donation: Center to states

The Center claims that low rates of organ donation in the nation are being caused by inadequate identification and certification of brain stem death instances in ICU patients; thus, it has encouraged states to keep an eye on these cases.

The goal of the advice to the states is to increase the nation’s organ donation rate, which is now less than one donor for every million people.

Less than one donor per million people in India is the country’s current low rate of organ donation. Anil Kumar, the director of the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), sent a letter to the states stating that “poor identification and certification of brain stem death (BSD) cases despite the availability of many such potential cases” is one of the major issues highlighted in this.

The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act of 1994’s requirements mandate that possible BSD cases in the ICU be identified.

Additionally, he said that it is legally required to find out whether such prospective donors have made an organ donation commitment and, in the event that they haven’t, to inform the family members of their right to give organs before their heart stops.

After certification of such BSD cases, the on-call physician must conduct the aforementioned investigation with the assistance of the transplant coordinator, according to Kumar’s letter sent last month to directors of state and regional organ and tissue transplant organizations (ROTTOs and SOTTOs), as well as all states and UTs.

According to Kumar, in order to guarantee that the Act’s and the Rules’ requirements are followed, each institution is asked to assist with and oversee the certification of BSD cases.

The official included a template for a “required request display board” in his letter. This board should be put up outside the hospital’s emergency room, intensive care unit, and any other key site. A list of data that must be gathered from the hospitals on a monthly basis is also appended by him.

The information gathered should be examined by the institution’s leader and the relevant SOTTO. According to him, the goal of the remedial measures must be to maximize organ donation from all possible donors.

The letter further said that all SOTTOs are asked to gather the data listed from every hospital that is registered and submit it to the NOTTO by the seventh of the next month.

The letter further said, “I seek your cooperation and support for augmenting the country’s organ donation rate in order to achieve self-sufficiency in the field of deceased organ donation.”