The central government has removed the requirement for mandatory COVID-19 testing of asymptomatic organ donors and recipients, except in cases involving lung transplants.
The revised guidelines, issued by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) under the Union Health Ministry, aim to address India’s persistently low organ donation rates. Authorities noted that organs from asymptomatic donors were being discarded solely due to positive COVID-19 tests, resulting in the preventable loss of lifesaving transplant opportunities.
In a circular to all states, NOTTO Director Dr. Anil Kumar said that “uniform testing for COVID-19 will not be mandatory” for living or deceased donors and recipients, “except for lung transplantation, where COVID RT-PCR testing will remain compulsory for both donor and recipient.”
For symptomatic donors or recipients, testing will be at the discretion of the treating clinician, based on case-specific assessment.
The changes apply only to COVID-19 testing requirements and may be updated depending on the national COVID-19 situation, the circular stated. The decision follows recommendations from NOTTO’s Apex Technical Committee, which considered the significantly reduced COVID-19 burden and declining case numbers across the country.
The expert panel also noted that COVID-19 primarily affects the lungs—even in asymptomatic individuals—making testing essential for lung transplants, while vaccine status has shown no impact on transplant outcomes. Delays caused by waiting for COVID-19 test results were also affecting timely allocation of deceased donor organs, the committee observed.