Hyderabad: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday declared Telangana as the Best State for Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (SOTTO) on the occasion of 14th Indian Organ Donation Day.
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel presented the national award. According to a statement, Jeevandan Cadaver transplantation programme is a flagship programme of the State started in the year 2012. The Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) is the Appropriate Authority for Cadaver Transplantation (AACT).
As of today, 40 hospitals in Telangana are permitted to carry out cadaver transplantation including NIMS, Osmania and Gandhi General Hospitals. Since the establishment of Jeevandan programme, 5541 organs and tissues have been retrieved from 1465 cadaveric donors, and 550 organ transplants are done free of cost under Aarogyasri Scheme of Telangana.
Jeevandan ensures adherence to the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA-1994) through several initiatives such as hospital licensing, coordinator training, online portal, awareness programs, etc.
The latest donation rate of Telangana for the year 2023 is 5.48 per million population (pmp), whereas India’s average organ donation rate for the year 2023 is 0.8 pmp. Jeevandan is also honoring each and every donor family on National Organ Donation Day. As many as 143 families were honored on August 2 by Jeevandan at Gandhi Medical College Auditorium here.