The illegal organ transplantation racket that came to the fore in Visakhapatnam recently has highlighted the huge gulf between availability and demand of human organs in the State, with some unethical private hospitals having the last laugh as they fleece desperate patients.
Director of Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) Dr. Satya Vara Prasad, who is also the Chief Transplant Coordinator (CTC) of Jeevandan-A.P., said that there are approximately 1,600 people in Andhra Pradesh who are in need of organ transplants, of which kidney patients constitute over 1,000.
“Kidney patients make up over 60% of those requiring organ transplants in the State. On average, there are hardly 30-35 cases in Andhra Pradesh where families come forward to donate the organs of their brain-dead relatives. The number of people who voluntarily pledge to donate their organs after their death is also low. But the demand for organs is huge. Unfortunately, many people die a slow, painful death waiting for years to get an organ transplant,” Dr. Vara Prasad told The Hindu .
Streamlining transplants
There have been requests to include all live transplantations under the District Health Committee.
Kidney transplantations are done either if a blood relative or a close family member or friend comes forward to donate a kidney voluntarily. The main clause is that no money should exchange hands at any cost. However, throwing the rulebook out of the window, Sraddha Hospital allegedly forged certificates to show the donor as a family member, in order to hoodwink the DHC or the authorisation committee.
“The DHC would not only check evidences thoroughly, but it would not even allow transplantation if any family member of the donor expresses opposition to the transplant. With hospitals flouting these rules, a request has been sought to include the DHC’s intervention in all cases of live transplantations,” he added.
Hardly any donors
According to officials from Jeevan Dan, in a State like Tamil Nadu, about 350 families of brain-dead patients have come forward to donate their organs. Similarly in Telangana, families of around 250 brain-dead patients agreed to donate their organs. However, that figure is dismal in A.P. with just about 30 cases per year.
Officials said that incidents like the organ racket at Sraddha Hospital might tarnish the image of the organ transplantation sector in A.P., which is still at a nascent stage.
