Army felicitated for creating national record in organ donation pledging

The Army was conferred the Special Award for Promotion of Organ Donation and Pledging by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) on Saturday for creating a national record wherein during a single campaign, over 26,000 personnel pledged to donate their organs.

“The award was presented to the medical teams from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, JP Nadda, at the 15^th Organ Donation Day function held in New Delhi.

Functioning under the Directorate General of Health Services in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, NOTTO is the apex organisation responsible for implementing the National Organ Transplant Program. It provides an efficient and organised system of organ procurement and distribution in the country.

In the Indian Armed Forces, organ donation started in the late 2000s and is coordinated by the Armed Forces Organ Retrieval and Transplantation Authority (AORTA) at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, New Delhi.

Over the years, military hospitals have developed expertise in harvesting and transplanting heart, liver, kidneys and lungs, besides carrying out other similar medical procedures related to cornea and tissues.