The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has released a set of regulations for the transportation of living human organs in a first.
By efficiently utilising the infrastructure that is currently in place, the transport procedures seek to guarantee the prompt transportation of vital organs from the site of harvest to their intended location.
With family members’ permission, the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act of 1994 permits the removal of organs from brain-dead patients or living donors. Depending on where suitable patients who have registered with their local transplant authority are located, these organs are transferred by air or road from one hospital to another, sometimes to a distant place.
Healthcare facilities in States and Union Territories will use the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which was released on Monday, August 5, 2024, as a guide for transferring organs by land, air, or sea. It was explicitly stated in the guidelines that no human organs would be shipped outside of India for transplantation; all organs would only be shipped inside the borders of India. Furthermore, no human organ for transplantation from outside of India’s borders may be transferred.
The Health Ministry advised that when transporting organs by air (commercial or non-commercial aircraft, helicopters, air ambulances, etc., excluding drones), the organ box should be screened without being opened, but passengers who are carrying the organ should still be subject to pre-embarkation security checks.
