New Delhi, Dec 18 (Inditop.com) Grandparents and grandchildren have been included in the list of near relatives who can donate organs to a patient, according to a bill on organ transplantation introduced in the Lok Sabha Friday.
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad introduced the Transplantation of Human Organs Amendment bill in the Lok Sabha, increasing the ambit of organ donors.
Till now, only a spouse, parents and siblings were allowed to donate organs.
The amendment will also clear the way for swap transplants between relatives of two patients whose organs find a better match with an unrelated donor.
The bill makes it mandatory for the Intensive Care Unit/Treating medical staff to request relatives of brain dead patients for organ donation.
In the case of foreign nationals, the bill calls for prior approval of the Authorisation Committee before removing or transplanting human organs or tissue.
In order to prevent the exploitation of minors, the bills says that no organs can be removed from the body of a minor before his/her death for the purpose of transplantation except in a prescribed manner.
The bill calls for establishing a National Organ Retrieval, Banking & Transplantation Network for proper functioning of the whole process. It makes it mandatory for the central government to maintain a national registry of the donors and recipients of human organs.
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