A national policy for presumed consent on cadaver organ donation is necessary, Brian Pereira, nephrologist, and CE0, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, U.S. said. “We cannot afford to give dialysis for hundreds of thousands of people in India,” he explained.
If presumed consent is put in place, then the organs from every person who dies could be used for transplantation unless he or she has expressly mentioned that the organs should not be donated. This would make available a large number of organs that could then be used for people with end-stage disease. Dr. Pereira also called for government regulations to control graft and the practice of kickbacks in medical practice that undermines the very fundamentals of the medical profession. It also violates the trust that patients have in doctors.
He also called for regulation of the standards of medical education that currently range from very good to very poor; and to ensure better access to modern medical care to all in society. Comparing the scene today with the past, Dr. Pereira said while the rich have come to have better access to the latest medical care, the poor still continue to remain where they were nearly two decades ago in terms of access. He was delivering the Krishnan Ang TANKER Foundation Endowment Lecture on ‘Solving the challenges of kidney disease - the journey of one Indian Nephrologist,' at the 18th annual TANKER Charity and Awards Nite 2011.
Dr. Pereira also received from Chief Guest and Union Minister for Shipping G.K. Vasan the La Renon TANKER Foundation For the Sake of Honour Award, on the occasion. The award carries cash prize of Rs.1,00,000, citation and gold medal.
Dr. Pereira donated the cash prize, topped it up with a similar amount and handed it over to Georgi Abraham, Founder Trustee, TANKER Foundation.
The Renny Abraham TANKER Foundation Love for Service Award went to Mohan Rajan, chairman, Rajan Eye Care Hospital. It comprised Rs.1 lakh, citation and gold medal. Dr. Rajan donated the cash prize to TANKER Foundation, which supports underprivileged patients with kidney ailments.
The Muthoot M. George Memorial TANKER and Kerala Kidney Research Foundation Young Investigator Award for outstanding research done in the field of nephrology went to Arpana Iyengar, associate professor, Paediatric Nephrology, St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore, for her research into ‘Biomarkers for renal osteodystrophy in Indian children with chronic kidney disease'. The award carries cash prize of Rs.2 lakh, a citation and gold medal.
Mr. Vasan congratulated TANKER Foundation for its work providing patients with renal failure access to subsidised dialysis.
While the average cost of dialysis could range between Rs.1000 and Rs.2500, TANKER was providing it at Rs.800, and providing further subsidy for those unable to afford this. The institution had also conduced awareness campaigns in order to prevent kidney disease, he said.
Healthcare is the fundamental right of every citizen of the country, Dr. Abraham pointed out. Tamil Nadu was one of the States where a public-private partnership model had been evolved in order to ensure better access to better facilities to everyone. One example of a successful PPP model was in the deceased donor transplantation programme of the State headed by the co-ordinator J. Amalorpavanathan, he added.
Latha Kumaraswami, managing trustee, and S. Suresh, Medical Director, and advisory member, TANKER Foundation, also spoke.
