Former Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar on Friday said Tamil Nadu, which stood first in organ donation in the country for six consecutive years, had slipped to the second position.
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Participating in the debate on the demand for grants for the Health Department in the Assembly, he said Maharashtra had overtaken Tamil Nadu. “The Department should concentrate on organ donations/transplants. It has come down at government hospitals,” he said.
In response, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said organ donations had come down in the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We convened a meeting two months ago and donations are happening now. We will take measures to climb up,” he said.
DMK MLA N. Ezhilan (Thousand Lights) pointed out that the previous AIADMK government had adopted The Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Act without any discussion in the Assembly. “This led to the dilution of the autonomy of the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu... A rotation basis has come into organ allocation, and this could lead to wastage of organs. So, a new Act should be brought in for organ donation and transplant,” he said.
Dr. Ezhilan also called for creation of ‘TN Pharma’ and ‘TN Health Services’, on the lines of the National Health Service, and a review of Government Order 354 related to the pay of government doctors.