MADURAI: Though over 10,000 organ transplant surgeries have been performed in Tamil Nadu since 2008, only about 900 of them took place in government hospitals, revealed an RTI reply issued recently by the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN). Further, 1,361 out of the total 1,683 organs harvested from brain dead patients in the state so far have been received by private hospitals.
In light of the response, health rights activist C Anandraj, who had filed the RTI application, has urged the state government to constitute a committee to ensure that government hospitals receive more organ donors. “The number of transplant surgeries in public institutions should be increased in order to ensure that the poor people too benefit from medical advancements.
As much as 90% of the transplant surgeries in government hospitals were performed in Chennai. We have 38 government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu, but only 13 of them have approval to perform organ transplantation and others have organ harvesting licence alone. In south Tamil Nadu, government hospitals in Madurai and Tirunelveli districts fare better in the number of transplant surgeries,” he said.
According to the RTI reply, of the 1,500 livers received from donors, only 94 went to government hospitals (91 went to Government Stanley Hospital in Chennai). Similarly, of the 780 hearts received, only 26 went to government hospitals. While 14 of them went to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai, 10 went to Omandurar Government Medical College in Chennai, and two went to Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital.