MIOT Hospitals is in the process of setting up a liver transplantation unit that would be able to perform a transplant at Rs.10 lakh, its Managing Director PVA Mohandas, said on Saturday.
Speaking to press persons on the sidelines of ‘Magicon 2010', the advanced gastrointestinal conference organised by MIOT, Dr. Mohandas said the aim was to create a state-of-the-art facility that would provide liver transplantation procedures at prices much less than currently offered by other corporate hospitals.
It would be possible by bringing down two components that likely hike the costs – specialists' and anaesthesia charges. Other infrastructure costs too can be kept to a minimum, Dr. Mohandas assured reporters. As the volumes pick up, the costs will also be affected positively.
The Transplantation unit will focus on performing cadaveric transplants initially, according to George Chandy, who recently took charge as the director, MIOT Advanced Center for Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases. It will come at a time when the State had put in place a system to regulate organ transplantations scientifically; and would benefit from this, he added.
Elwin Elias, former head of the liver transplantation unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, England, who is credited with evolving protocols for liver transplantation procedures, will guide the team at MIOT, Prof. Chandy said. Prof. Elias said the programme that had started in Birmingham in the 1990's had managed to achieve a 10-year survival rate of 75 per cent (in cases where there was no recurrence of disease).
Liver failure requiring organ transplantation is also rising, and there are a number of people waiting as per the organ registry, Prof. Chandy said.
There are about 50 lakh Indians with cirrhosis of the liver; 4 per cent who have Hepatitis B infection; 32 per cent have a fatty liver condition, 10 per cent have gallstone disease and between 10-20 per cent have Gastro Esophaegeal Reflux Disease, Prof. Chandy explained.
The Center, apart from providing therapeutic and surgical care, would also be involved in spreading awareness about these conditions.
