Daily Times

The Upper House of Parliament on Monday passed the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with the aim to set a requirement as the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to display the consent of potential donor on the National Identity Card for identification and apt management of transplantation of organs and tissues.

The bill was tabled by Balochistan Awami Party Senator Sana Jamali and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senator Seemee Ezdi as a private member’s bill on September 27 last year in the upper house which was referred to the Senate standing committee. And the committee was sent back to the Senate after approval.

According to the amendment, at the time of registration for Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC), the NADRA will ask people whether they want to donate their organs. And if they reply in affirmative a red mark will be added to their CNICs.

The bill would help to play a role in misuse of organs as it was contended by the lawmakers that there was not a single body to register donors and receivers of human organs.

According to the Human Organs Transplant Authority (HOTA) , there were 20 registered institutions across the country, which were doing organ transplants, but public sector institutions were hardly doing transplants.

The red mark on the CNIC is aimed at keeping people and authorities informed that the CNIC holder has committed to donated organs, said movers of the bill, adding that those who will die in the hospitals, their organs can be removed from there or relevant authorities can be intimated.

People will have a choice to include or remove donated organs from NADRA’s list, they suggested.

It was said that organ transplantation is the only option to save lives in patients affected by terminal organ failures and improve their quality of life. The results of organ transplantations may be improved by prompt and timely verification and identification of donor after his/her death.

Besides, six bills were also introduced in the House these included as “The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2022″, ” The Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2022″, ” The Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2022″, ” The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2022″, (Amendment of Article 61), ” The Access of Media (Deaf and Dumb) Persons Bill, 2022″, ” The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022.