Probe ordered into foreigners receiving organs in India

National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO)

• National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) is a national level organisation set up under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• The Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Act, 2011 provided the basis for the establishment of NOTTO.

• It has two divisions

• National Human Organ and Tissue Removal and Storage Network: Acts as a coordinator, ensuring that organs and tissues are retrieved from donors, properly stored, and efficiently allocated to compatible recipients waiting for transplants in Delhi (The network will be established initially for Delhi and gradually expanded to include other States and Regions of the country)

• National Biomaterial Centre: To fill up the gap between ‘demand’ and ‘supply’ as well as quality assurance in the availability of various tissues.

Transplantation of Human Organs & Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994

• The THOTA, 1994 provides for regulation of removal, storage and transplantation of human organs & tissues for therapeutic purposes and for prevention of commercial dealings in human organs & tissues.

• Brain Stem Death was recognised as a legal death in India for the first time under the act, which has revolutionised the concept of organ donation after death.

• The act was amended in 2011 and the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules were notified in 2014 to govern the donation and transplantation of human organs and tissues.