Better performance, coordination by govt. hospitals give hope for patients on waitlist for transplants

Not only have government hospitals in Tamil Nadu improved the number of organ donations done over the last two years, they are also doing more organ transplants. Specifically, sharing and utilisation of organs among government hospitals have picked up pace.

Better performance by government hospitals in the deceased donor organ transplantation programme has improved the organ pool for patients on the waitlist for transplants in the government sector. Officials noted that there was a reverse trend now with teams from government hospitals going to private hospitals to retrieve organs.

Data from the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) show that of the 234 deceased donors from January 2022 to June 24, 2023 in the State, government hospitals accounted for 78 donors — 51 in 2022 and 27 this year. Private hospitals accounted for 105 donors in 2022 and 51 this year.

Of 1,348 organ transplants (major organs and tissues) from January 2022 to till date, 268 took place in the government sector. The majority of these organs (253) were utilised from government hospitals, while the remaining came from private hospitals. R. Kanthimathy, member secretary of TRANSTAN, sees this as a very big leap. “In one-and-a-half years, government hospitals have done 268 transplants. From May 26 to till date, we have had 11 donors from government hospitals and four from private hospitals. This is heartening because it has improved the donor-organ pool for the government sector, benefiting patients on the waitlist in government hospitals,” she said.

The 11 donors are two each from Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH); Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai; Thanjavur Medical College Hospital; and Stanley Medical College Hospital; and one each from Salem, Coimbatore and Dharmapuri Medical College Hospitals. There are 127 private hospitals, and in the government sector, there are 23 Non Transplant Organ Retrieval Centres (NTORCs) and 13 transplant hospitals under the deceased donor organ transplant programme in the State. in Tamil Nadu.Officials said the NTORCs had increased the donor organ pool for government hospital-waitlisted patients.

On the increase in sharing and utilisation of organs among government hospitals, an official said: “Mostly, kidneys are being shared and utilised among all government transplant hospitals. Liver is shared between Stanley Medical College Hospital and RGGGH. Teams also go to private hospitals for retrieval of organs. They mostly travel by road.” The official said tissue donation and utilisation were also on the rise in government hospitals. “Transplant coordinators from government hospitals do awareness programmes on deceased donation at the district level.”

Now, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Coimbatore medical college hospitals are listing patients for liver transplants. “They have obtained transplant licenses, and will soon start performing transplants.” the official said.