Mumbai : Despite civic hospitals admitting numerous accident cases and performing 80-100 surgeries a day, they fail to convert brain-stem deaths into successful organ donations owing to a shortage of staff, few posts, low remuneration for transplant coordinators and a lack of skilled and dedicated counselors.
According to sources of the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), there are 2,577 people still on the waiting list for kidney transplantation, 190 people for liver transplantation and two people for heart transplantation in the city so far this year. The city has reported 24 cadaver donations so far this year, of which 52 kidneys and 21 livers have been donated, said ZTCC sources. Of these, participation in a maximum number of cases was recorded by private hospitals, whereas public hospitals are lagging behind in the race.
Elaborating on this issue, the head of the Directorate of Health Services, Dr Satish Pawar, said, “The issue with public hospitals is that they are facing a shortage of transplant coordinators. Also, those who are assigned as transplant coordinators are on yearly contracts, receive low remuneration, lack skill and are not trained in counseling the relatives. However, we have been rigorously working towards adding to the strength of transplant coordinators in public hospitals and are looking out for counselors who are the best in the field. But it would take time for things to fall into place.”
manasi tahalani
