Kathmandu, April 1:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has proposed a global agenda on transplantation with the aim to address global shortage of human organs for transplantation.

Stakeholders agreed to the creation of a Global Forum on Transplantation headed by the WHO to assist and support developing countries initiating transplantation programmes and to work towards a unified global coding system for cells, tissues and organs.

This came during the second Global Consultation on Transplantation, which was held in Geneva this week.

The stakeholders discussed the updated global guiding principles on cell, tissue and organ donation and transplantation, the WHO said in a press release today.

According to the WHO press release, those principles aim to address global shortage of human organs for transplantation, the growing phenomenon of ‘transplant tourism’, quality, safety and efficacy issues related to transplantation procedures, traceability and accountability of human materials crossing borders. “Human organs are not spare parts,” said Dr Howard Zucker, WHO Assistant Director-General of Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals.