NOTTO's New Move: Centralized Cornea Waitlist Soon

Organ waiting lists - heart, liver, kidney - are available centrally on the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization's (NOTTO) website (https://www.notto.mohfw.gov.in/); no such list exists for cornea as of yet. Eventually, a centralised platform will show the list of Indian patients awaiting a cornea transplant. In a recent move, NOTTO has written to all the states/UTs to direct the registered hospitals as well as eye banks for sharing the data such as list of patients waiting for cornea transplant, number of cornea donation and transplantation as well as number of corneas stored or utilised. Professor Dr. Namrata Sharma, Professor of Ophthalmology, AIIMS and Vice President, Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI) spoke about the widening gap between the demand and supply of cornea. She stated that the required demand for corneas stands at around two lakh per year to treat patients suffering from blindness. In 2023-24 alone, a little over 49,315 corneas were retrieved, but only 27,394 were suitable for transplant. Further, she laid emphasis on the fact that more details on cornea collection and additional use, would allow legislators ensure equitable access and optimum use of tissue that was obtained. For eye banks to renew their operational license, NOTTO has made it compulsory for such institutions to procure a minimum of 100 corneas every year.