Centre asks hospitals to disclose post-organ transplant survival data

📌 Summary:

• The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has directed States to make registered organ transplant hospitals disclose post-transplant survival data and publish it on their websites
• For the first time at this scale, data will reveal success rates of transplant surgeries — especially kidney, lung and heart — and the lifespan of recipients
• The aim is to enable patients to make informed choices about where to seek a transplant
• Hospitals must strictly follow informed-consent requirements, disclosing procedures, risks and outcomes to patients and families

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — governance and health sector transparency, patient rights and informed consent, regulation of the organ transplant ecosystem and accountability of private hospitals

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Organ transplantation in India is governed by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994
• NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation) is the apex body for organ donation/transplant coordination
• Commonly transplanted organs cited: kidney, lung, heart

🔑 Key Term: Informed consent — the ethical and legal requirement that a patient be given full information on a procedure's risks and outcomes before agreeing to undergo it