The Government accords very high priority for increasing donation of cadaver organs to bridge the gap between the demands for and supply of organs and to save the lives of a large numbers of persons suffering from end stage organ failure. With this in view, the importance of organ donation has been highlighted by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ Programme in October and November 2015. As a result, a very large number of calls/queries are being received by NOTTO from all over the country. Average number of visitors visiting NOTTO website everyday has increased from 665 before Mann Ki Baat on 25-10-2015 to 1407, and similarly, average number of calls being received has increased from 22 to 61 per day.

Other steps taken to make organ donation easier include provision of updated information to general public on NOTTO website, a 24×7 call centre with toll free helpline number (1800114770), launch of National Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplant Registry. The Government has also decided to award best performing State, best NGO, best transplant coordinator and best hospitals/institutes, etc. working in the area of organ donation. Hospitals have been advised to display boards outside the Intensive Care Units and at strategic locations in hospitals reminding that the law requires the doctor on duty/transplant coordinator/counsellor to make inquiry and request for organ donation from the family members of brain stem dead persons. Financial assistance is also being provided under the National Organ Transplant Programme for hiring transplant coordinators in Hospitals and Trauma Centres.

The Health Minister, Shri J P Nadda stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.