Rajasthan: Jaipur to have north India's first skin bank soon

Jaipur: The pink city of Jaipur will have a skin bank soon in one of its government-run hospitals. It will be the first skin bank in north India, The government has cleared the project and it may start in a month or two.
The skin bank will be started in a government-run SMS medical college hospital and will cost around Rs 1.5 crores. ‘The skin of lower limbs and back of brain dead and dead bodies can be retrieved within 6 hours of the death. It can be preserved in the bank for 6 months to 3 years depending on the condition of the skin, said Dr Rakes Jain, the unit head of the plastic surgery department of the hospital.

He said the skin bank helps save lives in burn cases as the transplant of the skin reduce the pain, can prevent skin failure and make the autograph procedure easy later on. The preserved skin can save lives even in cases of 70-80 per cent burn, he added.

According to the officials of the hospital, this will be the first skin bank in north India and will be a great relief for burn and accident cases. The site for the bank has been identified and equipment for the bank are being procured.