An important development in the field of organ donation and transplant operations has occurred with the establishment of India’s first national registry for patients in need of hand transplants. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO), a division of the Union Health Ministry, will be in charge of maintaining the registry. The goal of this invention is to promote organ donation and the effective use of existing organs by guaranteeing a transparent and prioritized distribution of donated hands.
Renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Subramania Iyer, who oversaw India’s first successful hand transplant in 2015, unveiled the effort. He underlined that the registry will expedite the country’s allocation procedure and raise awareness of hand donations, which frequently encounter difficulties because of the belief that an organ is being donated with outward mutilation.
All states and Union Territories received a letter from NOTTO Director Anil Kumar directing them to notify hospitals and hand transplant clinics about the registry. In order to ensure that all patients in need of hand transplants are appropriately recognized and given priority, the registration process for hand transplants will now be handled under the “bone” category of the tissue department of the national registry.
As of right now, 36 individuals have received 67 transplanted hands from the nine facilities in India that are authorized to do hand transplants. Hands can be donated after both brain death and cardiac death, in contrast to other organs that are donated after brain death. On the other hand, in the event of cardiac death, the process needs to happen in a medical setting under strict control and hands need to be donated within 30 minutes.
Hand transplants are classified as “composite tissue,” and as public awareness of this operation grows, so does the number of patients seeking this transformative treatment. The register will be essential to data management and equitable distribution of donated hands to patients as the number of hospitals doing hand transplants rises.
According to Dr. Iyer, the value of hand transplants in helping patients heal—particularly those who have lost both hands—is becoming more widely acknowledged. Although there are organizational and technical difficulties with the process, the greatest barrier is still the scarcity of donated hands. This problem is anticipated to be resolved by the register, which will encourage higher donation rates and guarantee that the donated hands are used appropriately.
This project is a significant step toward enhancing the hand transplantation procedure in India, giving hope to the underprivileged, and encouraging organ donation throughout the nation.
SOURCE :
THE PRINT
