At the inaugural ceremony of the Liver, Pancreatic Disorders and Multi-Organ Transplantation Unit and a liver ICU at BGS Global Hospitals, Gowda said, “We want to be on par with Tamil Nadu, which is one of the leading states in transplantation.”
“The amendments will facilitate and encourage voluntary donation and cadaver transplantation,” added Gowda.
Responsiveness required from people
Dr Mohamed Rela, hepatobilary, pancreatic and liver transplant surgeon, who has done about 1,300 liver transplants, including Guiness book record holder-- a successful transplant on a five-day-old baby, cleared some of the myths associated with organ transplant.
Rela said that the reason for a fewer number of organ transplants is that people are not much willing to donate their bodies. England performs about 650 to 700 transplants each year.
About 12 in one million people donate cadavers in England whereas in India a meager 0.1 percent of the population is a donor.
In England, about 300 people are in transplant waiting list, in contrast to India where the numbers escalate to thousands.
Rela also pointed to the fact that because of the increasing number of diseases in people, it is extremely difficult to find a healthy donor.
With four percent of Indian population that suffers from Hepatitis-B, 20 percent from Hepatitis-C and other seven to eight percent from fatty liver problems, transplants are difficult.
Apart from this, a majority of population suffers from diabetes and hypertension, which is a hindrance in finding a suitable donor.
Another apprehension is the expenditure incurred in the 12-hour long surgery, which keeps many people from undergoing the transplant. The surgery costs around 18 lakh with medicinal expenditure of 12 lakh alone.
Initiative in organ transplant field
For the multi-organ transplant unit, Dr. K. Ravindranath, BGS Global Hospitals MD and chairman said, “This is our third transplant center after Chennai and Hyderabad.”
“Liver transplantation is coming up in a major way. Last year, 58 liver transplantations were conducted, almost half the total transplantations in India,” added Rela.
To create awareness, surgeons said that people often think that an ailing body might not help in any way, but the fact is that the patient’s fitness as a donor is decided post death. And only rare medical conditions can disqualify the patient from being a donor.
Age and ethnicity has no relation, howsoever, with organ donation, established surgeons.
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