Centre Promotes 'One Nation, One Swap Transplant' to Boost Kidney Donations

The central government is pushing to mainstream swap kidney transplants through a unified national programme—a move experts believe could increase kidney transplant volumes by up to 15%. Swap transplants, or paired kidney exchanges, allow organ sharing between two incompatible donor-recipient pairs, offering a lifesaving alternative when direct donations are not possible. Though legally recognized in India since 2011 under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, the uptake has remained minimal, with only a few hundred surgeries performed over the years.

To bridge this gap, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) issued a directive on April 16 to all states and union territories. The notification, signed by NOTTO director Dr. Anil Kumar, followed resolutions made at the 2024 Chintan Shivir and announced plans for a “uniform one nation, one swap transplant programme.” The initiative also outlines a standardized set of documents for swap donation and transplant approvals to ease the process.

“A national registry would be the right step forward. There is a national swap registry in the US, and there is a common registry across Europe for swaps,” said Dr. Jatin Kothari, founder of the Apex Swap Transplant Registry in Mumbai, welcoming the government’s move.

Patients seeking swap transplants will now need to submit required documents to their respective state authorization committees for clearance, ushering in a new era of accessible and regulated transplant procedures in India.