National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP)

Last Updated28/07/2021

Under the National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP) a National Level Tissue Bank (Biomaterial Centre) for storing tissues has been established at National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), New Delhi.
Under the NOTP, a provision has also been made for providing financial support to the States for setting up of Bio- material centre.
As of now a Regional Bio-material centre has been established at Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO), Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Funds have also been released to the States of Bihar and Maharashtra for establishment of Biomaterial Centre under NOTP.

To organize a system of organ and Tissue procurement & distribution for transplantation.
To promote deceased organ and Tissue donation.
To train required manpower.
To protect vulnerable poor from organ trafficking.
To monitor organ and tissue transplant services and bring about policy and programme corrections/ changes whenever needed.

Setting up of State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisations (SOTTOs) in each State/UT.
Setting up of National/ Regional/State Bio-material centres.
Financial support for establishing new Organ Transplant/retrieval facilities and strengthening of existing Organ
Transplant/retrieval facilities.
Training to transplant experts including surgeons, physicians, transplant coordinators, etc.
Financial support for hiring of Transplant Coordinators to medical colleges and trauma centres.
Post-transplant immune-suppressant drugs to Below Poverty Line (BPL) patients.

It is a National level organization set up under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India located at Institute of Pathology (ICMR) Building in Safdarjung Hospital New Delhi.
It has following two divisions:

These have been mandated as per the Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Act 2011.
The network will be established initially for Delhi and gradually expanded to include other States and Regions of the country.
The main thrust & objective of establishing the National Biomaterial Centre is to fill up the gap between ‘Demand’ and ‘Supply’ as well as ‘Quality Assurance’ in the availability of various tissues.

Lay down policy guidelines and protocols for various functions.
Network with similar regional and state level organizations.
All registry data from States and Regions would be compiled and published.
Creating awareness, promotion of organ donation and transplantation activities.
Coordination from procurement of organs and tissues to transplantation when organs are allocated outside the region.
Dissemination of information to all concerned organizations, hospitals and individuals.
Monitoring of transplantation activities in the Regions and States and maintaining data-bank in this regard.
To assist in data management for organ transplant surveillance & organ transplant and Organ Donor registry.
Consultancy support on the legal and non-legal aspects of donation and transplantation.
Coordinate and Organize training for various cadres of workers.

High Burden (Demand Versus Supply gap)
Poor Infrastructure especially in Govt. sector hospitals
Lack of Awareness of concept of Brain Stem Death among stakeholders
Poor rate of Brain Stem Death Certification by Hospitals
Poor Awareness and attitude towards organ donation--- Poor Deceased Organ donation rate
Lack of Organized systems for organ procurement from deceased donor
Maintenance of Standards in Transplantation, Retrieval and Tissue Banking
Prevention and Control of Organ trading
High Cost (especially for uninsured and poor patients)
Regulation of Non- Govt. Sector