Kerala’s government medical colleges successfully performed their tenth liver transplant procedure on Friday, marking a major milestone for the state’s healthcare system. This accomplishment represents a significant improvement in the availability of organ transplant procedures in the public health field, which had previously struggled with affordability and accessibility issues.
Thiruvananthapuram Medical College has performed three of the ten liver transplants that have been done thus far, while Kottayam Medical College has performed seven. A 57-year-old Mavelikkara man with serious liver illness underwent the most recent surgery. The youngest liver donor in the history of these medical college transplants, his 20-year-old son, a third-year BCom student, gave him a liver. Both father and son are recuperating in the intensive care unit under careful monitoring after the successful surgery.
On February 14, 2022, the state’s first successful liver transplant was performed at Kottayam Medical College. Since then, both medical institutions have been able to execute more surgeries because to the program’s expansion. In fact, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College successfully performed another transplant just last month, and both the donor and the recipient were just released following their recuperation.
Important contributions in these surgeries were played by Dr. Sindhu RS, who heads the surgical gastrointestinal department in Kottayam, and Dr. Ramesh Rajan, who leads the same department in Thiruvananthapuram. Their knowledge and the commitment of the medical team have been crucial to the successful completion of these challenging surgeries.
Health Minister Veena George emphasized the government’s dedication to ensuring that these life-saving procedures are affordable while applauding the efforts of the medical professionals participating in the liver transplant program. In the private sector, organ transplant procedures can typically be unaffordable, costing approximately Rs 4 lakh, placing a heavy financial burden on individuals with limited resources. The state hopes to lessen this financial burden on needy families by allowing liver transplants in government facilities.
The Kerala government is building a specialized transplant institute in Kozhikode in an effort to improve organ transplant services even more. In addition to offering comprehensive care that covers organ damage treatment, transplantation, and rehabilitation, this institute will combine all organ donation-related activities. The program demonstrates the government’s dedication to enhancing healthcare outcomes and access for state organ transplant candidates.
SOURCE :
TIMES OF INDIA
