Delhi CM launches organ donation portal

CM Gupta and health minister Singh also inaugurated an early intervention centre for children at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya

Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday launched an online organ donation portal, called “Delhi Aang Daan”, a first, officials aware of the matter said. Besides, she also launched a series of health initiatives on the day as part of the ongoing Sewa Pakhwada started from the Prime Minister’s birthday.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta unveils the Organ Transplant Awareness Portal, and inaugurates the District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) at the Delhi Secretariat, in New Delhi on Thursday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The organ donation portal was launched a day after the ministry of health and family welfare issued clearance for Delhi to start operating the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissued Act, 1994. It is a nodal agency at the state level responsible for overall coordination and management of organ and tissue donation and transplantation and its operation will starts soon, officials said.

A copy of the approval letter accessed by HT reads, “Directed to convey the approval of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India for the establishment of State Organ & Tissue Transplantation (SOTTO) Delhi. Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of NCT of Delhi is requested to take further necessary action to operationalise the SOTTO Delhi as per guidelines of National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTP) in consultation with National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), New Delhi.”

Earlier, in a letter to Union health minister JP Nadda, Delhi health minister Pankaj Singh highlighted that Delhi, which is home to premier tertiary hospitals and a referral hub for the northern region, is in dire need of SOTTO.

Talking about how a dedicated SOTTO will benefit the national capital, Dr Satyajit Kumar, state nodal officer for the THOTA cell, said, “Until now, Delhi was covered under the Regional Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization (ROTTO-North), which serves Delhi-NCR. Now, a dedicated SOTTO for Delhi is set to boost organ transplants from both deceased and live patients. Further, now that there will be a higher allocation for the dedicated cell, there will be a bigger team that will work on increasing organ transplants through coordination with hospitals, donors and those in need for the transplants. Further, in the first phase, we will start campaigns for more people to pledge for deceased organ donations.”

On the donation portal “Aang Daan”, Dr Kumar said, “Through this portal, people can take organ donation pledge online, and get an online certificate also, can check approved transplant centres in the city, and can avail more information about organ donations in the city from the portal.”

CM Gupta and health minister Singh also inaugurated an early intervention centre for children at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, 11 CATS ambulances, and 27 X-ray machines for TB diagnosis.

“The newly launched CATS ambulances will improve emergency response time across Delhi, addressing a long-standing concern. The online organ donation portal will bring transparency and allow citizens to participate in saving lives. The early intervention centre at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya will focus on screening and addressing developmental challenges in children,” health minister Singh said.