Mumbai, Aug.4 : Amendments to the state act on human organ transplant on the lines of the Central Act were approved by the Maharashtra state cabinet on Tuesday.
According to reports, this step has been taken to ensure better implementation of the Act.
It has also been approved to reduce the level of commercialisation of organ transplant.
A state government press release said that amending the act would benefit those unaware of its provisions, as also those who are mentally challenged.
According to a study taken out by the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (IJME), tansplantation represents one of the best examples of the scientific achievements of medical science, but its success has also led to some of the fiercest ethical challenges in modern medicine.
The number of patients desperately needing a transplant far outnumbers the available organs, leading to a competition for organs which severely tests the principles of transparency and distributive justice, the IJME study maintains.
Transplantation is also unique in that it needs public sanction without which it will collapse.
The main source of organs, according to the IJME study, is deceased donation which hinges on consent from family members.
This consent, the study says, is shaped not only by the perceived credibility of the process but also by other cultural, religious and political factors.
On the recipient side, it says that the ethical challenge is how to ensure justice in allocating the few available organs to someone from amongst a large pool of patients on a waiting list.
Organ transplantation in India has a relatively short history compared to the developed world.
India’s conceptual and scientific contribution to this specialty has been limited even as it has been at the epicentre of one of the biggest ethical controversies concerning transplantation. (ANI)