Most organ transplants in India being done only in private hospitals, says Doctor
During the event, the doctors and health experts at the Manipal Hospital, Dwarka highlighted that in India there is a need to promote deceased organ donation as donation from living persons cannot take care of the organ requirement of the country.
Dr. Avnish Seth Head of Manipal Hospital, Dwarka’s newly launched Manipal Organ Sharing & Transplant, HCMCT Manipal Hospitals said on Tuesday that despite India’s status of conducting the highest number of transplant surgeries, the procedure is inaccessible to the masses. During the launch of the new organ donation department on Tuesday, Dr. Seth told Financial Express.com that most of the transplant surgeries are happening in private hospitals in the country.
“We do an amazing amount of organ transplants which means we have a lot of expertise, a lot of good surgeons, and good infrastructure to pull it off. The issue is that it’s not yet fully available to the common man because most of the transplants are happening in private hospitals. So, it will be wonderful if every state has at least one government hospital which does organ transplants. So that the common man can benefit. I think that is where we need to go,” Dr. (Colonel) Avnish Seth, VSM, Head – Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Manipal Organ Sharing & Transplant, HCMCT Manipal Hospitals told Financial Express.com.
Dr. Seth also pointed out that although there are laws in place for organ donations in the country, there has been an inadequate adoption rate among the state governments.
“Although we have passed the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues act, health is a state subject in our country and so many states have not even adopted the act. So, we find that about 8-10 states are doing all the organ work. So, the figure that you have of about one per million population is actually coming from very few states. So, all of us need to step in. The State governments have to take organ donations on priority and then only it will happen. The third issue is at the hospital level. In every hospital, they should declare brain dead. Every hospital should have the expertise to maintain brain-dead donors and have trained transplant coordinators who can talk to grieving families and make them understand the process. It’s a huge ask but we were zero per million population 10 years ago. We have made a very good beginning and with continued awareness, we will get better,” Dr. Seth told Financial Express.com.
In India, organ donation is regulated by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994. According to National Organ Transplant Programme (NOTTO), there is a shortage of organs in the country. There is a wide gap between patients who need transplants and the organs that are available in India. An estimated around 1.8 lakh persons suffer from renal failure every year, however, the number of renal transplants done is around 6000 only.
