The National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) is actively promoting and streamlining the process of swap donor transplantation across the country. This initiative aims to significantly increase the availability of organs for patients who have biologically incompatible near-relative donors.
The Director of NOTTO, highlighted that Section 9, Subsection 3A of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, already provides for swap transplantations.
What is Swap Transplantation?
Swap transplantation, also known as paired exchange, allows two biologically incompatible donor-recipient pairs to exchange donors, ensuring that each recipient receives a compatible organ. This method is particularly beneficial for cases involving blood group or HLA mismatched pairs and highly sensitized patients.
Need For Standardized Approach
The push for a more standardized approach follows a recommendation from the National-level Chintan Shivir held in 2024, which advocated for a “Uniform One Nation One Swap Transplant Program” and a consistent document list for swap organ donation and transplantation nationwide.
To facilitate this, NOTTO has recommended a list of documents for implementation by registered hospitals for the swap donor transplantation program. These include various forms such as:
- Form 1 or 2,
- Identification and relationship documents,
- Form 5 (for genetic relationship certification),
- Form 6 (for spousal donors),
- Form 11 (for joint agreements),
- Form 20 (for out-of-state transplants), and
- Form 21 (for foreigners).
Additionally, documents certifying both the incompatibility between the original near-relative pair and the compatibility between the swap donor and the new recipient are required.
Approval for swap donor transplants must be granted by the Authorization Committee of the hospital, district, or State where the transplant is to take place, using Form No. 18. States have been urged to disseminate this information to all registered transplant centers to ensure a uniform and smooth approval process across the country.
Proposed Reforms under the One Nation One Swap Initiative
