A recent 10-point advisory from the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) to States and Union Territories (UT) to augment organ donation and transplantation in the country has some contentious recommendations. It has proposed to make provisions to grant additional points in the organ allocation criteria for women on the waiting list to address gender disparity, to prioritise a near relative of a previous deceased donor in need of transplant, and wants hospitals to provide data of each donor and recipient for the national registry maintained by it.
NOTTO, in line with the 15th Indian Organ Donation Day 2025, had sent out the advisory with the approval of the competent authority of the Union Health Ministry. While it stated that States should honour the deceased organ donors, ensuring that they receive a dignified funeral and their family members are felicitated at public functions, it went on to suggest the following: to make provisions to give additional points in the allocation criteria for women patients in the waiting list for deceased donor organ transplants to address gender disparity, and to make provisions that if a near relative of a previous deceased donor needs organ transplant, then he/she may be given priority.
