Tamil Nadu to accelerate cadaver organ transplantation programme

‘Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had highlighted the need to speed up the initiative’

Tamil Nadu, a forerunner in cadaver organ donation, is on a mission to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic-induced slump. The waiting list for different organs in Tamil Nadu was about 7,000 and the State was making efforts to accelerate cadaver organ donation and transplantation, said Health Minister Ma. Subramanian in Coimbatore on Sunday.

The current waiting list was 6,483 for kidney, 380 for liver, 43 for heart, 42 for lungs, 18 for heart and lungs, two for pancreas and 23 for hand, the Minister said, after conducting a review meeting on organ transplantation with the Deans of all Government Medical College Hospitals in the State.

“Though organ transplantation programmes across the country witnessed a slump during the pandemic, Tami Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin highlighted the need to accelerate the programme, considering the waiting list. He held video conferencing with deans of all medical colleges four months ago to boost organ donation, and today’s review meeting is a continuation of the same,” said Mr. Subramanian. He addressed the Deans along with Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji and Health Secretary P. Senthil Kumar.

Mr. Subramanian said the State’s organ transplantation programme witnessed a decline in 2019-20. After the DMK government came to power in May 2021, the programme saw a revival and those in need received a total of 479 organs, harvested from 114 brain-dead people, till June 30. Procedures done for 588 beneficiaries during the period were covered under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.

Since the launch of the Government-run organ transplantation programme in the State in 2008, 5,557 persons have been benefited from organs harvested from 1,524 donors, he said.

The Minister said Tamil Nadu had not reported any case of monkeypox. Samples collected from two children, who returned from Canada and the U.S. with rashes on their face, returned negative. Reports, which said a Singapore-returnee in Tiruchi and three passengers in Nagercoil were affected by the disease were rumours, he added. “Chief Minister has instructed us to keep the public informed of any disease spread. If the public is kept informed, they will be more cautious. More awareness will be created, too. There is no need for the administration to hide facts,” he said.

He said the State was continuing the screening of passengers entering Tamil Nadu from Kerala at border checkpoints. Screening has been intensified at all international airports in the State. “But we cannot say that the disease will not affect Tamil Nadu,” he added.