Ms Lijamol Joseph, Chief Transplant Coordinator, Jeevasarthakathe, SOTTO - Karnataka

Karnataka's deceased organ donation program made a remarkable progress in 2022, recording 151 deceased donations and securing the state's position as the third highest in India, following Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

The Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 issued by the Government of India, was adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka in 1995. The state's journey towards deceased donations began in the same year with the establishment of FORTE (Foundation for Organ Retrieval and Transplant Education), a non-governmental organization based in Bengaluru. In 2005, FORTE was merged with the state-supported body called the Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation (ZCCK), which worked towards streamlining and coordinating deceased donation activities in Karnataka. Later, in 2017, ZCCK underwent a transformation to become an autonomous registered society named Jeevasarthakathe. Subsequently, in 2022, Jeevasarthakathe was formally recognized as SOTTO-Karnataka (State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization) by the Central Government.

Pathbreaking work by SOTTO - Karnataka

1. Identifying Non-Transplant Human Organ Retrieval  Centres (NTHORC) and supporting their licensing and facilitating deceased donations

2. Maintaining online registries for transplant wait list and pledge registry

3. Organ-based advisory committees were formed to make clinical decisions regarding the offered organs

4. Expert committee for brain death certification was formed to support and handhold the ICU professionals when required

5. Ongoing capacity building programs conducted for stakeholders 

SOTTO Karnataka has established five zones across the state, namely Mangaluru, Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Kalaburagi, and Bengaluru serving as the headquarters. In order to improve the program, it has undertaken a number of measures, including creating an enabling ecosystem for organ donation and transplantation, streamlining the deceased donation process, and creating strong partnerships with various stakeholders such as hospitals, medical professionals, government and non government agencies. In addition to these measures, SOTTO Karnataka has also been actively involved in raising awareness among the general public.