A total sum of ₹225 crore has been spent through the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS) for liver transplantations in Tamil Nadu to date, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said on Wednesday.
“Liver transplantation was started at the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital from 2009. Under CMCHIS, funds to the tune of ₹19 lakh are being granted for liver transplantation. So far, 1,043 patients have benefitted,” he told reporters during an event in which the Health Department entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chennai-based Rela Hospital for liver transplants and bone marrow transplants.
For patients requiring bone marrow transplants such as for thalassemia and blood cancers, up to ₹3 lakh was funded through the CMCHIS. Till now, 1,493 patients have benefited with a total of ₹149 crore spent under the scheme, he added.
The Minister said that earlier, the Department had a similar agreement for performing liver transplant surgeries, when city-based liver transplant surgeon Mohamed Rela was with Global Hospital. With the earlier agreement coming to an end and not taken up in the last two years during the pandemic, a new agreement has now been signed, he added.
Coimbatore, Madurai to be covered
As per the new MoU, the government and a team of Rela Hospital will coordinate in training and transplantations at Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), Institute of Child Health (ICH), Egmore and government medical colleges in Coimbatore and Madurai, he said. In the earlier agreement, only Stanley Hospital and ICH were covered.
“The team from Rela Hospital will perform the surgery at the government hospitals. So far, no liver transplant has been performed at RGGGH and this will be started now. Similarly at Coimbatore and Madurai medical colleges as well….As per this MoU, government doctors will get the opportunity to observe during the surgery,” he said.
The Minister said that while a total of 6,667 persons were in the waitlist for kidney transplants, 314 persons were waitlisted for liver transplants.
Dr. Rela, chairman of Rela Hospital, said that other States followed the Tamil Nadu model when it came to organ transplantation. He said that TN not only promoted organ donation, but also funded every liver transplant, and no other State did that.
He said that while the programme can be started at Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, some work needed to be done at RGGGH. He hoped that they would be able to do the first transplant at RGGGH within three months. At ICH, the present arrangement was to identify children requiring transplants and perform the procedure at Rela Hospital.
Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan and others were present at the event.
