For the fourth consecutive year, Tamil Nadu bagged the Best State Award in cadaveric organ donation from the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The Minister, in his speech, said Transtan, was a first of its kind initiative in the country. So far, 6,886 organs were retrieved from 1,198 donors in Tamil Nadu, which is well ahead of other States.

“We have made the organ allocation process transparent, and this is one of the reasons for continuously doing well. We have participation of NGOs and have taken the programme to tier II cities,” he said.

The State consistently has a high number of organ donors. At 899 organs that were utilised (November 2017 to October 2018), the State has achieved maximum utilisation of donor organs to benefit end-stage organ failure patients, officials said. The year marked the State’s first bilateral hand transplantation at the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital. Transtan coordinated another bilateral hand transplantation at Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry.

The State has more than 1,000 empanelled doctors for certifying brain stem death.

This year, Transtan started to collect post-transplant and organ utilisation reports after each transplantation. The authority streamlined the website of Tamil Nadu Network for Organ Sharing, updating the waitlist and streamlining the organ sharing registry.