Deceased organ donation of foreign nationals in India

Inward foreign tourism in India is on the rise and the tourists are equally at risk of fatal road accidents and stroke leading to brain death. This provides an opportunity for organ donation; however, no guidelines are available on how to proceed in such cases. The Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 is also silent on this aspect. This paper seeks to lay down recommendations and guidelines for hospitals, healthcare professionals, Transplant Coordinators and the state machinery allocating such organs on how to proceed with such cases. Three such donations by foreign nationals in India were examined and based on the experience of coordinating them, guidelines have been drawn up. It was seen that families agreed readily where the individual had expressed the desire to be an organ donor (by opting the same on the driving licence or coming from a country that follows presumed consent). Effective counselling also encouraged consent in case of no prior wish. However, absence of guidelines and standard protocols creates confusion. In order to increase the donor pool, donations from foreign nationals in India should be streamlined. Also, from a human rights perspective, India needs to enable the choice of organ donation for every person who is declared dead within its territory.