Centre mandates permanent transplant coordinator posts in hospitals

In a significant move to tackle the acute shortage of transplant professionals in India, the National Organ Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), has mandated the creation of permanent 'transplant coordinator' positions in all hospitals conducting organ transplants.

According to a directive from NOTTO, hospitals will not be registered for organ transplant activities unless they appoint qualified and experienced transplant coordinators. This initiative aims to address the current scarcity of these essential professionals in the country.

Mint previously reported in 2023 that the Union Health Ministry intended to make it compulsory for all hospitals with organ transplantation facilities to have transplant coordinators. The lack of a centralized database tracking these professionals has exacerbated the shortage.

Under the National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP) for 2020-21 to 2025-26, government medical colleges are supported with two transplant coordinators, while well-performing private medical colleges receive support for one coordinator. This support is committed for five years, during which state governments or medical colleges are expected to establish permanent posts for these roles.

Anil Kumar, Director of NOTTO, highlighted in an 8 October letter that many states and institutions have not made significant efforts to create these permanent positions. He stated that support requests for transplant coordinators under the NOTP would not be considered beyond 2024-25 for hospitals that have already surpassed the five-year support period.

Transplant coordinators play a crucial role in managing the entire process of deceased organ donation and transplantation. Their responsibilities include identifying and certifying brain stem death, providing grief counseling to families, obtaining consent for organ donation, coordinating between donor and recipient hospitals, managing logistics, and ensuring the smooth operation of organ retrieval and transplantation processes. They also offer support to the donor's family throughout the procedure.