In India, a new government National Biomaterial Centre (National Tissue Bank) at the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) was inaugurated. The main objective of the new center is to fill the gap between ‘demand’ and ‘supply’ as well as ‘quality assurance’ in the availability of various tissues. The National Tissue Bank will fulfill the demands of tissue transplantation including activities for procurement, storage and fulfill distribution of biomaterials.
Smt Anupriya Patel, Minister of the State, said in a press release that it is important to understand that in India it is mainly the living donors who are donating organs and only about 23% of the organ transplant is being done with organs obtained from the cadavers. “There is a need to promote cadaver or deceased organ donation rather than relying on living donors in order to avoid the risk of commercial trading of organs and also to avoid the inherent risk to the health of the living donor,” Smt Anupriya Patel said in the release.