BHUBANESWAR: Even as Odisha holds the distinction of performing the highest number of renal transplants in a Government facility in the eastern region of the country, cadaveric organ transplantation is yet to begin in the State much to the disappointment of health experts. In 2014, the Orissa High Court (HC) had directed the State Government to adopt the ‘Jeevan Daan’ scheme of Andhra Pradesh and start cadaveric transplantation in Odisha. Programme Director (Heart Transplantation) of Kolkata-based Fortis Hospital Dr Tapas Raychaudhury said it is unfortunate that the State has not yet started the procedure despite the HC directive.
Speaking at the 9th Indian Organ Donation Day organised by Multi Organ Transplantation and Human and Educational Research (MOTHER) here on Tuesday, he said Odisha should immediately set up State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) in consultation with Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO).
“SOTTO should join hands with local Health department and issue licences for cadaveric retrieval and transplantation. While SOTTO can allocate organs, the State Government will have to issue the licence. Once the licence is issued, healthcare facilities will start accumulating recipients,” Dr Raychaudhury said.
Though SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack has been carrying out renal transplantation, it lacks donor-recipient compatibility testing facilities.
Organ transplantation at MKCG Medical College and Hospital at Berhampur and VIMSAR at Burla remains a non-starter.
Managing trustee of MOTHER Trailokya Nath Panda said lives of thousands of patients can be saved every year if cadaveric organ transplantation is allowed and facilities developed in the State. “But surprisingly, the State Government is not even allowing private hospitals to carry out the procedure. A few corporate hospitals, which had applied for the licence three years back, are yet to receive the approval,” he pointed out.
Panda, also the general secretary of National Deceased Donor Transplantation Network, said the State Government is yet to frame necessary rules to facilitate cadaveric organ donations even more than four years after the Assembly amended the Orissa Anatomy Act 1975. “Similarly, though equipment have been procured since 2013 and staff trained for liver transplantation, the procedure is yet to start in SCBMCH,” he added. Among others, president of KIIT and KISS Saswati Bal, MOTHER’s trustee S Misra attended the event.