Health Minister visits a heart transplant patient at Omandurar GH

CHENNAI: Health Minister Ma Subramanian visited the 10th heart transplant patient from Villupuram at Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super-Speciality Hospital, Omandurar on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old patient Selvakumar from Villupuram underwent a successful heart transplant at the hospital. The heart of a brain-dead man who died in a road accident at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital was transplanted into him. He is now recovering well and is about to return home.

The health minister said that at least 194 hospitals in Tamil Nadu are registered under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act for carrying out human organ transplants like kidney, heart, liver, lung, intestine, pancreas and iris. Of these, 21 are government hospitals and 174 private hospitals are registered and providing human organ transplant services.

At least 126 government and private hospitals have been given permission to issue brain death certificates to facilitate organ donation of brain-dead persons in accidents with the consent of their next of kin. Brain-dead patients in need of organs are being rehabilitated through organ transplants, he said.

In a meeting held in Coimbatore on July 31 by the health minister, it was stated that based on the applications received from the Government Medical College Hospitals, all the Government Medical College Hospitals in Tamil Nadu have been given permission to operate as organ harvesting centers for quick organ harvesting from brain dead people. This will reduce the waiting list of patients requiring organ transplants in Tamil Nadu, " Ma Subramanian said.

So far, 9,257 organs have been retrieved from 1,548 brain-dead individuals. This includes 5,642 organs of the human body including heart, liver, kidney, lung, pancreas, small intestine and hands. Apart from this, organs such as skin, iris, heart valves, blood vessels, bones, spine and disc tissue, abdominal flap have also been donated.

He said that the waiting list for organs include 2,645 kidney patients, 22 liver patients, five heart patients, two lungs and two people waiting for hands. Likewise in private hospitals, up to 3,747 kidney patients, 321 liver, 39 heart, 48 lung, two lungs, two pancreas and six arms are registered as required and waiting.

Organ transplants are done under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Medical Insurance Scheme and a total of Rs.985.05 crore has been spent on 12,233 beneficiaries. Under CMCHIS, Rs. 44.41 crore was spent on a total of 558 beneficiaries for organ transplants until July.