BHUBANESWAR: AIIMS-Bhubaneswar will soon start a cadaveric organ transplantation programme and promote organ donation. Speaking at an event organised to mark Indian Organ Donation Day (IODD) here on Thursday, executive director Dr Ashutosh Biswas said after the success of renal transplantation, the institute is now planning to start liver transplantation.
“We have already taken significant steps to support organ transplantation. Both liver and cadaveric transplantation programmes will start simultaneously. It will provide impetus to the deceased donor initiative,” he said. Around 20 faculty members, hospital staff and the public pledged their organs on this occasion signifying their commitment to the noble cause. The event also witnessed a signature campaign and a meme show performed by students of the College of nursing promoting organ donation.
The Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital felicitated Sapan Kumar Bindhani and Sunita Pradhan, parents of a brain-dead girl who had donated the latter’s kidneys to save the lives of two persons.
Joint director of State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTO) Dr Bibhuti Bhushan Nayak said more than two lakh Indians require organ transplant every year, but not even one in every 10 manages to get it.
“Organ donation needs to be promoted as a dead person can come to the aid of eight other persons saving their lives. Organs which can be harvested after death include kidneys, liver, lungs, small intestine, pancreas, eyes, heart, skin, bone and tissues,” he said. SUM medical superintendent Prof Pushparaj Samantasinhar said steps are being taken to start robotic surgery in the hospital. A walkathon was organised by the hospital to mark the occasion.