• Source:JND
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The Union Health Ministry issued its first-ever Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the seamless transportation of human organs via various travel modes. These SOPs for different travel modes allows priority for the vehicles carrying organs for the human transplantation and also insists on creating green corridors. 

Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra highlighted the SOPs as a roadmap for organ retrieval and transplant institutions, ensuring adherence to best practices and quality standards. The guidelines aim to streamline the organ transport process, ensuring maximum utilisation of organs and offering hope to patients awaiting life-saving transplants, health officials said.

For air transport, the SOPs specify that airlines carrying human cadaveric organs can request priority take-off and landing and arrange front-row seats for the accompanying medical personnel. Priority reservation and late check-in for medical personnel are also provisions included. The source airport will communicate with the destination airport to facilitate the arrival process, and the flight captain may announce in-flight that human organs are being transported.

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Upon arrival, airport and airline staff can arrange trolleys to transport the organ box from the aircraft to the ambulance. If the ambulance is allowed onto the runway, airline crew can assist medical personnel with disembarking directly into the waiting ambulance. Airports should define a "green corridor," free from obstruction, for the organ box from the ambulance to the aircraft and vice versa.

For road transport, the SOPs recommend creating green corridors upon request from specific authorities or agencies. A nodal police officer can be appointed to manage issues related to jurisdiction, approvals, and security during the creation of these corridors. State traffic police should be sensitised about organ donation and the crucial role they play in expediting organ transport.

For metro transport, the Metro Traffic Control should accord priority transit for trains carrying human organs. Metro security staff should escort the clinical team to their boarding area, and a metro official can cordon off necessary space for the organ box. Security Hold Area (SHA) personnel should be informed to avoid delays in security checks, ensuring proper arrangements at the destination.

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The organ box should be transported upright and secured with a seat belt, labelled "handle with care." The SOPs also cover organ transport by road, trains and shipping, outlining essential guidelines and protocols.

These SOPs were developed in consultation with NITI Aayog, concerned ministries and transplant professionals, aiming to ensure the highest standards in organ transport across the country.

(With PTI Inputs)

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