Summary:
AdvertisingIn the report, the committee has also appealed to the High Court to clarify the existing provisions regarding the consent process. AdvertisingThe nine-member committee of senior doctors of the PGIMER said the registry may be based on a unique national ID number given by National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) and explained that the centralised record of such voluntary donors will mitigate such instances where reservations are expressed later at the time of death of a person by their next of kin consenting for organ donation. Stating that the process of organ donation and consent involves religious beliefs, social taboos and certain apprehensions by the relatives, the committee has said there needs to be involvement of certified NGOs and religious bodies to create positive awareness. The committee explained that sometimes only one relative or attendant is available with a patient who has come from a far-off place and though the relative or attendant may be willing to give consent for organ donation, he may not fulfil the legal condition. An Expert Committee of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, Thursday in a report placed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court recommended that a ‘National Registry of Voluntary Organ Donor’ should be maintained for people who in their lifetime express willingness to donate organs and their pledge should be taken as an affirmative action or ‘living directive’ after their death..