CHENNAI, Jan 16: Observing that Tamil Nadu was a pioneering state in organ transplantation in the country, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said other states should emulate it in providing affording medical care to the people.
Speaking at a function got up to felicitiate renowned transplant surgeon Dr Mohammed Rela of Gleneagles Global Health City for performing 1,000 liver transplants in a span of seven years in the state, he said ”there is a big transformation happening in the country. Once upon a time, we had to go to London for undergoing liver transplantation.”
”Now, people from all around the world are coming to Chennai,”, he added.
Lauding the Tamil Nadu government for performing free surgeries at Stanley Medical College, the Vice President said ”Tamil Nadu is now a pioneer in organ transplantation in the country.”
Pointing out that It has the biggest pediatric liver transplantation programme in the world, Mr Venkaiah Naidu said the transplants done here were one fourth of the cost of what was done abroad and the State Government along with the efforts of people like Dr Rela were the reason behind this.
”Other States must follow Tamilnadu’s lead in providing affordable medical care”, he said.
State Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan, speaking on the occasion, said ‘Dr Rela, who has done over 4,000 liver transplants all over the world, also has a Guinness Record for performing liver transplantation surgery on a five-day-old child.”
He said as per a MoU signed between Government Stanley Medical College Hospital and Gleneagles Hospital, Dr Rela and his team have performed 24 free surgeries at the hospital.
”Last year, 60 pediatric liver transplantswere performed with zero mortality”, Dr Radhakrishnan said and added that with the effort by the State Government and its partnership with Gleneagles hospital, Chennai has become the hub for liver transplantation surgeries in India.
In his address, Dr Rela lauded the role of Tamil Nadu Government in making the State the leader in the field.
‘Tamil Nadu’s TRANSTAN programme which created an awareness for organ donation is the main reason behind the success. The State has the best doctors and training systems from around the world”, he said.
Dr Rela said Europe’s largest hospital, Kings College in London, handled only 225 transplant cases in 2017. But, we have overtaken them by performing 339 transplants last year.
Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar also credited the TRANSTAN programme that was headed directly by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for bringing in the change in the State.
”Late Jayalaithaa initiated a corpus fund through which 301 free transplants were performed and a lifetime supply of free immuno-suppresants post surgery was assured to the patients at a cost of Rs 366 crore.
These efforts have fetched Tamil Nadu the Best State award for cadaveric transplants in India for three years in a row”, he said.
Stating that 6,068 organs have been harvested from 1,077 donors in the State so far, the Minister said the Government is keen to ensure that no one suffer due to non-availability of organs. (UNI)
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