New Delhi:
The Center has asked states to monitor cases of brain stem deaths in ICU patients, saying poor identification and certification of such cases is keeping the number of organ donations in the country at low levels.
The advice to the states is aimed at increasing the number of organ donations in the country, which is less than one donor per million inhabitants.
“The number of organ donations in India remains low (less than one donor per million inhabitants in a year). One of the key challenges identified herein is the poor identification and certification of brainstem death (BSD) cases, despite the availability of many such cases. possible cases,” explained Dr. Anil Kumar, director of National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), said in the letter to the states.
According to the provisions of “The Transplantation of Human Organs Tissues Act, 1994”, it is required to identify potential cases of brainstem death in the ICU.
Further, it is mandatory to investigate whether such potential donors have committed to organ donation and if not, to sensitize the family members about the option of donating organs under the law before the heart stops, he said.
The doctor in charge, with the help of the transplant coordinator, is required to initiate the above-mentioned inquiry after certification of such BSD cases, Dr Anil Kumar said in the letter sent to all states and UTs and directors of regional and state bodies and tissues. transplant organization (ROTTOs and SOTTOs) last month.
Dr. Anil Kumar said that every institution is requested to facilitate and monitor the certification of BSD cases to ensure compliance with the provisions of the law and rules.
In his letter, the official included a template of the “required request display board” to be placed outside intensive care units, in emergency rooms or in another strategic location within the hospital. He also included a list of information to be collected from hospitals on a monthly basis.
The head of the institution and the respective SOTTO should analyze the information collected and the corrective measures should be taken with the aim of maximizing organ donation from all potential donors, he said.
Further, all SOTTOs are requested to collect such information as per the list from each registered hospital and send it to the NOTTO before the seventh of every succeeding month, the letter said.
“I seek your cooperation and support in increasing the number of organ donations in the country so that self-sufficiency in the field of cadaveric organ donation can be achieved,” the letter said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)