SKIMS, GMCs of Jammu-Srinagar only centres for Kidney Transplantation
Sanjeev K Sharma
JAMMU, Mar 2: Following the establishment of State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (SOTTO) in J&K in the year 2019, about eight organ transplant centres have come up in this Union Territory (UT), which are now working hard to give new lease of comfortable life to the ailing people.
Sources informed that these centres include both the Government institutes and those run by private players.
These centres are Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu, GMC Srinagar, Command Hospital Northern Command in Udhampur, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura in Srinagar along with the private medical institutions like Perfect Vision Super Speciality Eye Hospital, Srinagar, Eye Care and Research Centre, Srinagar, Swami Vivekananda Mission Hospital, Jammu and ASG Hospital, Srinagar.
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They further informed that before SOTTO was established in J&K, the facility for kidney transplantation was only available at SKIMS Soura.
“As SOTTO was established in J&K by 2019, two new transplant centres started here-one at GMC Jammu in the year 2022 and the other in GMC Srinagar in 2021 and these centres started kidney transplantation,” sources maintained adding: “Now kidney transplantation is being done at three centres in J&K-GMC Jammu, GMC Srinagar and SKIMS Soura in Srinagar and so far SKIMS has successfully transplanted over 700 kidneys.”
More sources informed that of the new transplant centres, GMC Srinagar is yet to function up to the mark while the centre at GMC Jammu has so far performed more than 31 live kidney transplants and over 90 cornea transplants have also been done here so far.
“Among the eight transplant centres, only three including GMC Jammu, GMC Srinagar and Command Hospital Udhampur have the facility of Eye Banks,” they further said.
Reliable sources informed that in entire of J&K, after 2019 to till date, over 250 corneas have been successfully transplanted thereby enabling many people to see the beautiful world.
However, before the establishment of SOTTO in J&K, there was no functional centre for cornea transplantation here.
“Presently there are two organ retrieval centres in J&K having authorised permission to retrieve organs of a brain dead person and these centres are 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar and Command Hospital Udhampur,” the sources further said.
While the Udhampur organ retrieval centre has so far collected only 2-4 eyes, reliable sources informed that both the retrieval centres in J&K, functioning under the control of Army, have so far received no other organ donation.
“Barring eye transplants at GMC Jammu, the eyes transplanted in other seven centres of J&K are received from outside the UT as J&K has inked many Memorandums of Understanding with many eye banks of the country,” an insider informed.
However, despite all odds, the SOTTO team has so far organised over 500 awareness camps across J&K to motivate the public at large for organ donations.
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