The National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) Scientific Dialogue 2023 was held on February 19 by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The discussion was planned to gather all the stakeholders under one roof to generate suggestions for interventions and best practices in the field of organ and tissue transplantation that may be implemented to save lives.
During the event, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan highlighted the three priority areas, including programmatic reorganisation, communication strategy, and professional skill development. Stressing the need to update the existing structures and guidelines in place, Health Secretary Bhushan said that although there are existing structures at various governance levels like NOTTO at the national level, SOTTOs at the state level, and ROTTOs at the regional level, it needs to be ensured that they work as well-oiled machinery while performing their mandate.
Addressing the event, Secretary Rajesh Bhushan praised the country’s hopeful perspective on organ and tissue transplants. He stated that there is a rapid comeback in transplant activity following COVID and that for the first time, more than 15,000 transplants have been performed in a single year (2022), resulting in an annual increase of 27% in transplant numbers.
The Union Health Secretary emphasised the country’s shifting demographics by pointing out that India’s geriatric population is expanding and that it is crucial to update communication and awareness plans so that potential organ donors come forward in order to ensure their quality of life. He recommended extensive orientation and reorientation for healthcare professionals and subject knowledge experts through training programmes, freshly created courses, and digital interventions for healthcare professionals and domain knowledge experts.
Further adding to his statement, Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that wide publicity, and awareness programme can be taken up by engaging with local stakeholders and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The Health Secretary emphasised the necessity for medical institutions to increase their capacity by stating that transplants remain a specialist service limited to some hospitals exclusively, despite having 640+ medical facilities and colleges.
The number of facilities doing surgery and organ transplants needs to be increased. He also stressed the usage of physical infrastructure to its full potential in order to boost operations and transplants throughout the nation as well as to increase healthcare professionals’ awareness and training.
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