The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) on October 08, 2024, issued a letter related to the Creation of Permanent posts of Transplant Coordinators by Govt. Hospitals/Institutions performing organ transplantation or retrieval.
It is stated that organ donation in India is regulated under the Transplantation of Human Organs & Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994, as amended in 2011. According to Section 14(4) of this Act, no hospital shall be registered unless the Appropriate Authority is satisfied that the hospital has appointed a Transplant Coordinator with the necessary qualifications and experience as prescribed. Thus, transplant coordinator is a legally mandated requirement for Hospitals carrying out transplantation or organ retrieval for grant of registration under the Act.
The Transplant Coordinator plays a critical role for coordinating the entire process of deceased organ donation and transplantation. This includes coordinating for brain stem death identification and certification, grief counselling and encouraging the family members for organ donation, consent for organ donation, coordinating between donor and recipient hospitals, liaising with various retrieval teams, recipient and donor matching, logistical management, ensuring the smooth operation of all aspects of organ retrieval, packing etc, and providing support to the donor's family.
Given this context, all hospitals/institutes are informed that requests for providing support for Transplant Coordinators under NOTP would not be considered beyond the current Financial Year 2024-25 from those hospitals/institutes that have already surpassed the five-year period of receiving such support.
[D.O. No. S.12011/26/2015-MG/255]
