India to learn best practices about organ donation from Spain

India is expected to learn the best practices in organ donation and transplantation under a pact it plans to sign soon with Spain which is considered to be a pioneer in the field.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is expected to be signed when Spain's Health Minister Ana Mato Adrove undertakes a visit here two months later, in January next year, an official statement said here today.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is on a visit to Spain and met his counterpart yesterday, underlined that India could have infrastructure for organ donation and transplantation comparable to the highest standards achieved by Spain.

"Spain has the highest rate of organ donation -- about 35.3 per million population, and also offers models in best practices. I would like our own National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) to have those standards and the Spanish Health Minister has offered full technological assistance," the statement quoted Vardhan as saying.
Vardhan, an ENT doctor himself, visited Spain's National Organisation for Transplantation in Madrid to get a feel of the professionalism at work in maintaining the registry of donors and recipients and the manner in which transfers are organised, it said.
He visited the Donation and Transplantation Institute Foundation, Barcelona, one of the leading centres of the world for research in organ transplantation housed in University of Barcelona University.

The health ministry said the Indian organ and tissue donation and transplantation scenario is in for major development with the government committed to make National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) a world class institution. Regional centres will also be commissioned in six cities subsequently.
An MoU covering organ donation and other aspects of healthcare cooperation is expected to be in January, the statement said.
The two Ministers also discussed the problem of Ebola Virus Disease and ways to deal with it.