The Health department is going ahead with setting up infrastructure at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode, for performing the first-ever liver transplant surgery there.
Health Minister Veena George told The Hindu on Monday that all arrangements were expected to be in place by mid-2023. “The first successful liver transplant surgery in the government sector in the State was conducted in February this year. Three such surgeries have so far been performed at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, and one at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam. We are planning to have the next one in Kozhikode,” she said.
Ms. George said dedicated teams of doctors and health professionals were set up at Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam for the purpose. “Health professionals at the Kozhikode MCH too will have to be trained as it is a complicated procedure. Intensive care units will have to be set up for both donors and recipients. Minor alterations in the existing facilities are being planned now,” she added.
The government has already set up a State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation to make the process of organ donation transparent. It has been conceived as a charitable society to do away with commercial interests and shady dealings. The cost of liver transplant surgery is reportedly around ₹45 lakh in the private sector, which is beyond the reach of commoners. The demand to have a facility in government hospitals had been a long-pending one.
Meanwhile, people who have undergone the surgery have sought financial help from the government for post-surgery treatment. They claimed that around ₹25,000 would have to be spent by each patient after the surgery.
