Unauthorized organ donation due to K-SOTTO's lethargy; 5132 of 5418 organ transplants not posthumous but between living

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (K-SOTTO), which coordinates organ donation, becoming lethargic, 95 percent of organ transplants in the state in five years have been between people who are alive. Most of these are between non-relatives! K-SOTTO did not make a move despite the news that this was a shocking business centred on some private hospitals.

In five years, 5418 organ transplant surgeries were performed in the state. Of these, 5132 are among the living. Only 286 organ donation surgeries were performed posthumously. None of this is accurately accounted for in K-SOTTO.

K-SOTTO did not attempt to detect or prevent illegal organ transplants. K-SOTTO is responsible for investigating the database and status of organ donation between the living and post-mortem, finding out if there are any mistakes or flaws and reporting to the government. In 2020, the Director of Medical Education had issued an order empowering the K-SOTTO Nodal Officer to do this. This was to make organ donation go ahead flawlessly. K-SOTTO does not have information about the status of organ donors and how many of the transplant recipients are alive.

Relatives?

Only the organ donation between father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, grandfather and grandmother is considered as an organ donation between relatives. All others are non-relative organ donations. The possibility of money transfer is high in these.

Auditing when government intervened!

K-SOTTO, which had done nothing despite the controversy surrounding the organ trade, has come forward to conduct a five-year post-transplant audit after the government issued a strict directive. K-SOTTO Nodal Officer Dr Noble Gracious informed that they have inspected three transplant centers in the state and prepared a preliminary report and a detailed report will be submitted to the government soon. Although the main objective of K-SOTTO is to promote posthumous organ donation, K-SOTTO also oversees organ donation between living persons.