CHENNAI: Thanks to the sustained implementation of the Cadaver Transplant Programme of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Tamil Nadu has recorded the highest number of organ transplants from cadavers in a year.
Announcing this as part of the first anniversary celebrations of its Cadaver Transplant programme, V K Subburaj, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, said both private and government hospitals had helped achieve this national record. “It is significant that the first successful heart transplant in a government hospital, was also achieved in the state recently,” he said.
The state had become a hub for kidney treatment, he observed, adding that hospitals across the world were facing acute shortage of kidneys. “About 1 lakh people are affected by kidney problems in the country, apart from the 1 million people suffering from kidney failures. Kidney transplants are the best strategy to handle this but many patients succumb to the disease even as they are undergoing dialysis. And so, people from across the country come to Chennai, a hub of medical activities, especially transplant surgeries,” he said.
Liver transplant, which was hitherto considered the privilege of the rich, and available only in foreign countries, is now being handled effectively everyday in the state, he revealed.
Dr J Amalorpavanathan, Convenor, Cadaver Transplant Program, lauded the government’s commitment in simplifying transplant procedures in the state. “A record seven Government Orders have been issued in three months on the same issue. We have now become a model for other states to emulate,” he noted. A guide on Deceased Donor Transplantation was released during the occasion, followed by a lecture by P W C Davidar, Secretary, Information Technology, apart from the opening of the office of the Convenor.