Rules of organ transplantation to be displayed at airports 

Health Ministry issues guidelines for foreigners seeking organ transplants in India, emphasizing legal framework and protocol awareness.

With more number of foreigners visiting India to undergo organ transplantation, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued an advisory to sensitise international patients to the organ transplant protocol and legal framework in the country.

In a note to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said India had emerged as one of the leading destinations for foreign nationals to undergo organ transplantation due to the availability of world-class healthcare facilities and highly skilled medical professionals.

It was essential for these foreign nationals to understand the specific guidelines and legal requirements that regulate the process of organ transplantation in India. In order to sensitise the foreigners on medical visa for organ transplantation and address their queries regarding rules pertaining to organ transplantation, the Health Ministry had prepared a set of protocols and guidelines to be published on websites/portals of the Bureau of Immigration, MHA.

The Health Secretary also wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs to circulate and publish the guidelines at prominent places in airports to create awareness among foreigners visiting the country for organ transplantation. Some of the basic requisites were that treatment of diseases which required organ transplant would be permitted only on a medical visa and all living donors should be of the age 18 or above.

Going by provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994, and other Rules, no Indian donor is permitted to donate his organ or organs to a foreigner unless they are a near relative of the recipient.

The guidelines say a near relative could be a spouse, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, grandson or granddaughter. A senior official of the embassy of the country of origin in India is required to certify the relationship between the donor and the recipient in the prescribed format. In case a country had no diplomatic establishment here, the certificate of relationship, in the same format, would have to be issued by the government of that country.

Foreigners needing organ or organs from a deceased donor for transplant could seek registration in India through their respective treating hospitals after which their names would be included in the waiting list registry. “However, such cases would be considered for allocation of organ only when there is no Indian patient available to take that organ in the whole country... Commercial dealing in human organs or tissues is prohibited and is a punishable offence in India,” the guidelines said.