Centre should educate public on organ donation:Nephrologists

Hyderabad, Apr 8 (UNI) Renowned Nephrologist and Emeritus Professor of Osmania Medical College A Gopal Kishan today said the Centre should take up public education programme on organ donation, particularly kidneys, as about 1.5 to 2 lakh kidney patients were dying due to lack of kidney donors in the country every year.

Addressing the press here, Dr Kishan, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Health Minister A Ramadoss along with a four-member delegation in New Delhi recently, said the delegation suggested that the Centre should take up public education programme on organ donation in a such manner that people willingly come forward to donate their organs, as was happening in the western countries where 85 per cent of the kidney transplantations were done with Cadavere transplant.

Stating that the delegation urged the Centre to amend the Organ Transplantation Act 1995 to curb illegal kidney transplantation and kidney rackets, he said illegal transplantations could be curbed by encouraging genetically-related donors, banning un-related donors and increasing the near-related kidney donors.

The delegation also suggested to the Health Ministry that every transplant unit should have a 'Transplant Coordinator' whose role would be potential donor detection, donor management and approaching the family, he said, adding the existing 'brain stem death certification team' should be strengthened with the inclusion of qualified post graduates in internal medicine.

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