Cadaver Transplant Programme, Government of Tamil Nadu » Media_Coverage

Tamil Nadu is a role model for the organ donation in India.

castro — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:18:55 +0000

“Involve police closely in organ transplantation”

Bruno — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:49:43 +0000

From http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article2402456.ece

Meenakshi Mission Hospital holds organ donation awareness programme

pledge: K. Magudapathy, Assistant Commissioner of Police (traffic), addressing an awareness programme at Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre in Madurai on Friday. Photo: G.Moorthy

Medical personnel must liaise closely with the police department regarding organ transplantation as they could provide immense help, said J. Amalorpavanathan, Transplant Coordinator, Cadaver Transplant Programme, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Apart from several ethical dilemmas in organ transplantation, logistical problems also affected transplantation.

He was addressing an organ donation awareness programme (deceased donor transplantation – kidneys, heart, liver and eyes) organised here on Friday by Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre (MMHRC).

Highlighting the significance of police help, he recalled how the police department blocked traffic at Chennai’s busy Anna Salai on a New Year’s Eve to facilitate the quick transport of a heart, flown down from Madurai, from the Chennai Airport to Mogappair.

The dilemmas of allotting this scarce resource included whether the beneficiaries should be chosen on basis of who was the sickest or treating every one equally or whether simplicity should be hallmark. The Tamil Nadu model had been evolved by studying and customising the U.S.A., U.K. and Mumbai models. It was a dynamic model with constant evolution. Discussing the regulatory framework in India and organ allocation principles and practices, he said that if a patient died, even in a private hospital, his organs belonged to the society. The hospital must contribute at least one pair of organs to the State pool before utilising the rest.

The main issues involved accurately identifying if the patient was brain dead, obtaining the family’s consent, ensuring the donated organs got transparently distributed and following all the laws of the land.

In India, organ transplantation was governed by the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 along with its subsequent rules, Government Orders and guidelines of Advisory Committees or Coordinating Agencies. The Act was reviewed in 2004 following a Delhi High Court order. Subsequently, a Parliamentary Standing Committee had submitted a bill in August 2010, which was passed by Lok Sabha this August and was pending in the Rajya Sabha.

Addressing the gathering of medical professionals, Dr. Amalorpavanathan urged them to strike a balance between profit motives of private healthcare and the patient centric allocation. He asked them to prioritise medical ethics and involve the civil society as a stake holder.

Speaking earlier, K. Magudapathy, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Madurai City, said that doctors were among the most respected in this society in which most people look at doctors as emissaries of the gods. He also pledged to donate his organs or his families should such a situation be possible.

K. Sampath Kumar, Head of the Department and Senior Consultant Nephrologist, MMHRC, said that the programme was intended to create awareness in southern districts about organ transplantation, which hitherto had been carried out mainly in Chennai and Vellore.

K. Selvamuthukumaran, Senior Consultant Nephrologist, MMHRC, Dinakaran, head of Madurai Kidney Centre, spoke.

State leads the way in organ transplant

castro — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 07:41:52 +0000

From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/State-leads-the-way-in-organ-transplant/articleshow/9753131.cms

MADURAI: Tamil Nadu is a role model for other states in organ donations, according to an expert in cadaver transplantation. Speaking at an awareness programme on organ donation organised on Friday by Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre in Madurai, convenor Dr J Amalorpavanathan said that more than 200 people have donated their organs between October 2008 and July 2011 in order to save the lives of others.

“As per the current cadaver transplant census report, Tamil Nadu’s contribution is about 1.3% per million donations, in 2010. The deceased donors per million population per year are that of USA -20.7 percentage, Europe 15.9 percentage, Asia-1.1 percentage including Tamil Nadu contribution is 0.8 percentages.

Tamil Nadu is the number one state in organ donation in India. However, contributions from the southern districts, have been very poor,” Amalorpavanathan said.

He also said that since all major religions are now endorsing organ donations, medical administrative officials should create more awareness programmes in southern districts. “We have created three divisions for organ donation to enable speedy transplantation of organs on the patients. While the north division covers Chennai to Vellore, south division covers Trichy to Nagercoil and the west from Vellore to Coimbatore,” he said. He told TOI that medical officers were often confused about the laws related to transplantationand that is why they were conducting awareness programmes in second-tier cites like Madurai

. “Only four persons have donated organs to patients in the past one year,” he said. Some one brain goes steam death while four doctors confirmed it and convince the family members of the deceased and taken the organs from the body for save other persons life. The 99 percentage of organs have gotten from accident victims because their brains would be gone to steam death but other organs functions have worked very well”, he said.

Dr K Samapathkumar, nephrologist said that according to the Indian Medical Tribune survey there was less than 50% overall positive response in favour of donating solid organs. “In the last 10 years, 1000 cadaver organ transplants including 900 kidney and 100 liver and heart transplants have been performed. Almost 40% of the cadaver transplants in India are done in Tamil Nadu, and its organ sharing network could become the role model for rest of the country,” he said.

Involve police closely in organ transplantation

castro — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 07:25:25 +0000

From http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article2402456.ece

Meenakshi Mission Hospital holds organ donation awareness programme

pledge: K. Magudapathy, Assistant Commissioner of Police (traffic), addressing an awareness programme at Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre in Madurai on Friday. Photo: G.Moorthy

Apart from several ethical dilemmas in organ transplantation, logistical problems also affected transplantation.

K. Selvamuthukumaran, Senior Consultant Nephrologist, MMHRC, Dinakaran, head of Madurai Kidney Centre, spoke.

Brain dead labourer’s organs harvested

Bruno — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:23:04 +0000

From http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/28/stories/2011042862830600.htm

CHENNAI: When the parents of 18-year-old Rambabu agreed to donate his organs after he was declared brain dead, they hesitantly asked the transplant co-ordinator if the hospital could arrange to take a picture of him. They said they had none.

Rambabu, a daily wage earner from Bihar, had come to Chennai only 10 days ago to join his uncle at a construction site near Chromepet. While working there, he is said to have fallen from the second floor and injured himself.

He was rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here on Sunday, but doctors could do very little for him.

Mandatory second test

The mandatory second test to confirm brain death was done the next day, and experts certified that Rambabu was indeed brain dead.

His parents, father Shankar Pandit, and mother, who are also daily wage labourers back in Bihar, had been informed that their son was in hospital and they were on their way to Chennai.

They reached the city in the afternoon of Tuesday.

Grief counsellors and transplant co-ordinators from Mohan Foundation spoke to the parents then, explaining that their son’s organs could be used to help other people.

Corneas left as per request

The couple, who have four daughters and one other son, consented, only specifying that the corneas should not be removed.

In accordance, two kidneys, the liver and heart valves were harvested on Wednesday.

One kidney went to the GH itself, while the other, and the liver, went to Stanley Government Hospital, where they were used on other patients.

No takers for heart

There were no takers for the heart, even though enquiries were made even in Karnataka.

The heart valves were then harvested for use at Dr. Cherian’s Frontier Lifeline Hospital.

News in Dinakaran Regarding a Cadaver Transplantation

Bruno — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:30:15 +0000

Image courtesy : Dinakaran via Dr.Ashokan

Organ donations in TN hit 1K mark

Bruno — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:50:10 +0000

From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Chennai/Organ-donations-in-TN-hit-1K-mark/articleshow/8009545.cms

CHENNAI: The state’s organ transplant registry has crossed a milestone. Since its inception in September 2008, the registry has recorded donations of 1,008 organs and valves from more than 175 brain-dead patients. The cadaver organ registry was set up to network with hospitals across the state for organ donation.

Senior surgeons feel that though the rate of cadaver organ transplant in the city is 15 times the national average, it can be improved further. The registry’s advisory committee has formulated a plan to increase organ transplants. The committee has pointed out the need to increase infrastructure and manpower. It found that more than 80% of hearts were wasted in the city due to a lack of experts and infrastructure. In smaller cities, many more organs like liver were wasted as there were no transplant centres.

Another lacuna is the lack of trained grief counsellors. Though some city hospitals have grief counsellors, who work as the key resource persons spearheading transplant-related activities, there are no formal or structured education programmes for them.

Grief counsellors have task cut out

Bruno — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:46:29 +0000

From http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Grief-counsellors-have-task-cut-out/articleshow/8009542.cms

CHENNAI: Key employees of a hospital are: doctors, nurses, staff — and now grief counselors. On them falls the tough job of introducing organ donation to families grieving for their dead.

As demand for organs soars, doctors are placing tremendous value on the sensitive work done by grief counselors. Many hospital managements have declared them as indispensible as their leading surgeons.

The Government of India in its gazette titled The Transplantation of Human Organs Rules, 1995 has made the nomination of a transplant coordinator mandatory before the hospital is registered as a transplant hospital. This means that there is now a huge requirement for trained transplant coordinators among the 300 registered hospitals. Many hospitals including Apollo and Government general hospital have grief counselors who work as the key resource persons spearheading transplant-related activities.

There are no formal or structured education programmes for grief counselors. The Mohan Foundation ( Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network) organizes training programmes in transplant coordination, which they say provide fulfilling and challenging new job opportunities for young graduates. The progamme is supported by the Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust.

The foundation, which began working for cadaver organ transplants in 1997, is organising one-week, one-month, three-month and six-month training programmes in the specialised area of transplant coordination for graduates in the sciences, social work, medical psychology, sociology, nursing and physiotherapy. The foundation encourages other graduates with a passion for organ donation and good communication skills to apply.

The programme involves training in counselling families of “brain dead” patients to donate organs and coordinating the entire process of organ donation, retrieval and transplantation at hospitals working in close liaison with intensive care staff. “It’s an extremely challenging job. They approach the family minutes after doctors tell them that their kin has suffered an irreparable brain damage. They will be dealing with different kinds of people and emotions,” says Dr Sunil Shroff, who heads Mohan Foundation. In 2010, the foundation trained more than 120 co-ordinators.

The faculty for the course includes senior transplant surgeons and coordinators. The students will visit dialysis units and hospitals. The next one-month training programme in transplant coordination & grief counselling starts on April 18 in Chennai.

Concerns despite rise in cadaver donations in State

Bruno — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:31:34 +0000

From http://www.thehindu.com/health/article1078710.ece

While celebrations are in order with a 46 per cent increase in cadaver donations in Tamil Nadu, a keen look at the statistics provides good reason for why this celebration is qualified by some concerns.

While the number of organs and donors has gone up substantially, the maximum number of organs has come from two hospitals in a single city. “Apollo Hospital and Government General Hospital are the two main contributors to the programme, and about 90 per cent of all organs come from these two institutions,” J. Amalorpavanathan, convenor, Cadaver Transplant Programme, explains.

“While there is substantial improvement in the numbers (a minimum of two cases a week), we are concerned that these achievements come from only two hospitals, and in the same city. Clearly, we need to decentralise operations,” he adds. The plan, Dr. Amalorpavanathan mentions, is to reach out to key centres in the south (Madurai) and west (Coimbatore) that have sufficient infrastructure to handle the cases.

V.K. Subburaj, Principal Secretary, Health, says one reason might be that most emergencies are rushed, from different parts of the State, to either of these two city hospitals. This does not mean that other hospitals are not capable of handling cases, if there is sufficient awareness of the process. “However, the benefits of the cadaver transplant programme of the State must be far-reaching and not confined to a city or to particular hospitals,” he adds.

Mr. Subburaj further explains the State’s strategy, “We have a two-pronged strategy to handle this: carry out intensive sensitisation in other medical college hospitals, and appoint a grief counsellor (from MOHAN Foundation) in the major participating hospitals in Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore.” He says the State’s programme will receive a further fillip if Tamil Nadu is roped into the Centrally-funded Organ Retrieval and Banking Organisations.

Dr. Amalorpavanathan also raises the issue of the cadaver hearts going waste. “There are not many takers, even in the private sector. We have to examine the reasons for this – Is it a question of affordability, or availability of infrastructure?” he asks. However, the heart valves are being harvested and used.

Hindu Editorial : 29th October 2010 : A model programme

Bruno — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:15:36 +0000

From : http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/29/stories/2010102963791400.htm and http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article855338.ece

A model programme

Tamil Nadu’s positive experience with its two-year old cadaver transplant programme has an important message for all States: strong official policy and commitment to transparency can improve the availability of vital organs to save lives. Kidneys, livers, and hearts from brain-dead donors have provided a new life to several patients with organ failure. Remarkably, Tamil Nadu has made the transition from a State with rampant kidney commerce a few years ago to one with a nationally acknowledged deceased-donor transplant programme. Some key factors have helped turn the situation around and set new benchmarks. Chiefly, Tamil Nadu created a network for sharing of cadaver organs, administered by a designated coordinator and an advisory committee. It enlisted government and private hospitals to equitably share the available organs, and opened a patient registry that helps identify recipients. A significant contribution has been made to the process by organisations such as the Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network (MOHAN) Foundation, which trains grief counsellors and raises awareness, and the National Network for Organ Sharing (NNOS). The overriding principle has been to utilise the organs of brain-dead patients through donation rather than let them be wasted. The efforts have paid off and families of brain-dead people have come forward in altruistic spirit to donate the organs of their kin. Quite remarkably, the donor rate of one per million population a year in the State is ten times the national average.

The case for a sound cadaver organ sharing system cannot be overemphasised. Over 90 per cent of people with end-stage renal failure, for instance, die within months of diagnosis. But for such a transplant programme to inspire confidence among donors, it is vital to treat organs as the property of society, with no possibility of exploitation and commerce. This can be done through a transparent system that makes the rules public and the implementation verifiable. The Tamil Nadu programme is noteworthy for its orientation towards poor patients in public hospitals. The costs of the transplant procedure and medications for a lifetime are fully met by the government in these institutions. Moreover, the active participation of private hospitals, which contribute to the common organ pool, has helped achieve good results. Commendably, during a one-year period from October 2009, Apollo hospitals contributed 34 per cent of the donors. A lot more can be done to improve local use of organs in far-flung areas. Provisioning major hospitals at the district level with the systems necessary to maintain cadavers and the expertise to perform transplants must be made a priority.

COMMENTS:
Organ Donation Program by the the Tamilnadu is really a very noble and useful programme to the society. Thanks to The Hindu for highlighting such commendable works.
from: Dr. Jagadeesh kumar.P.N
Posted on: Oct 29, 2010 at 05:41 IST
The Editorial makes interesting reading. People should certainly come forward for organ donations.The writer made factual points to back this idea.
from: K. Preethi
Posted on: Oct 29, 2010 at 06:37 IST
In comparison to all other states, Tamil Nadu has always been in a vanguard of health sector reforms and the recent cadaver transplant program corroborates that.Though in its incipient stage, the program will help abating the rising death toll owing to organ failure. Though a long shot but the active participation of the private sector hospitals holds promises of sustainability of this program with effective checks.
from: Ritesh Kumar
Posted on: Oct 29, 2010 at 10:18 IST
In present context of our country the organ donation program and encouraging this type of programs holds key for national health of our country, as of our population is more prone to chronic illnesses like diabetes organ transplantation will help in immense in saving lives.
from: Dr.Chidanandaswamy
Posted on: Oct 29, 2010 at 21:31 IST