Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant (FORT), Department of Pediatrics, Fortis Memorial Research Institute organised India's first summit on 'Organ donation and transplantation in children' on Saturday.
Dr Avnish Seth, Director, Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant said, "Pediatric organ donation is growing at a fast pace all over the world. In India, 'The Transplantation of Organs Act 2011' and 'Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules of 2014' have not adequately addressed the issue of organ donation in newborns, infants and children. In adults the mandatory time interval between 2 sets of testing for brain death is 6 hours. In children the time interval should be longer but has not been specified in Indian law. However, it has been recommended by international societies that the time interval should be 24 hours for children below 30 days and 12 hours for children between the ages of 1 month to 18 years. The causes of brain death in children differ from those in adults."
This was the first national level meeting on pediatric organ donation in India to be endorsed by International Society of Organ Donation and Procurement which encourages the growth of transplantation globally.
The event was co-hosted with MOHAN Foundation, National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) and was supported by College of Pediatric Critical Care, Indian Academy of Pediatrics - Critical Care Chapter and Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine - Pediatric Section.