Centre expresses concern over low rate of organ donors

Health and Family Welfare Minister Ashwini Kumar Chaubey said to ensure all the states across India to implement the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994. Also, his ministry will bring out a postal stamp promoting organ donation- 'Angadan, Mahadaan, Mahakalyan'.

New Delhi:Expressing concern over the low rate of voluntary organ donation in India, the Union Health Ministry on Monday vouched to register one crore donors across the country in the next five years.

"People's participation and people's awareness is the key to encouraging organ donation. It's sad that even after years of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, hardly 16 states have implanted it. We have to ensure that all the states across India implement the Act," said Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Chaubey.

He said that his ministry will bring out a postal stamp highlighting 'Angadan, Mahadaan, Mahakalyan'.

"We should create awareness right from schools, besides organizing a massive campaign for this," said Chaubey.

According to government statistics, 27,500 organ donation took place in India in the past three years.

The minister has also expressed serious concern over the fact that large scale of illegal organ transplant takes place in India.

"There is already a law to counter the threat of illegal organ transplantation. But we will be very strict from now onwards," said Chaubey.

The junior minister in health and family welfare ministry was talking to the media on the sideline of the silver jubilee celebrations of Transplantation of Human Organ Act, 1994, (THOA) organised by National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO).