Federal HOTA set to get administrator

Islamabad

The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination has planned to appoint administrator to the federal Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA) for two years on contractual basis.

The ministry had secured the administrative control of the authority in October last year from the Capital Administration and Development Division. Established in 2007 under a presidential order, the federal HOTA has been tasked with making rules and regulations for removal, surgery and transplantation of human organs and tissues for therapeutic purposes; controlling and banning organ trade; stopping illegal organ sale to foreigners from Pakistani citizens, and improving the quality of transplantation. 

In February this year, the ministry made the US-based Dr Ishtiaq A Malik its administrator. However, the lucrative position fell vacant within two months after Dr Ishtiaq stepped down amid outcry over his alleged corruption as well as penalisation by the US justice department during his stay in the States. Thereafter, the ministry managed the authority's affairs on ad-hoc basis by asking one of its senior officials to act as a stand-in for the permanent administrator.