Chennai: All states should take cue from Tamil Nadu and support organ transplantation, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said on Tuesday. He said the state government, under the leadership of the late Jayalalithaa, had taken up the "noble" programme of extending government support to organ transplantation.
"I want every state to follow (it). A government hospital doing transplantation, that is praiseworthy," he said at a function here. The Vice President honoured Dr Mohamed Rela, chairman and director, Institute of Liver Disease and Transplant, Gleneagles Global Health City, and his team on successfully completing 1,000 liver transplants in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. Dr Rela had performed the first liver transplant in August 2009 and has individually performed more than 4,000 liver transplants. Heading the Institute for Liver Disease and Transplantation, Dr Rela has performed 278-deceased donor and 722 live donor transplantations.
Congratulating Dr Rela and Dr K. Ravindranath, chairman, Gleneagles Global Hospitals, on achieving the landmark of 1,000 liver transplants in the state within a span of seven years, Venkaiah Naidu said, “Liver transplantation at that time was very challenging due to poor awareness of public, doctors were skeptical and issue of affordability. Against all odds, Dr Ravindranath and the team of Dr Rela have established a pioneer centre for liver transplantation in the country,” he said.
The transplantation programme has now grown to become one of the largest centres in the world for liver transplantation in children. In all, 278 children (youngest child aged four months) have benefited from the programme.
Patients from all over India and also from more than 20 countries all over the world have been benefited from the transplantation programme. “Liver transplantation was not well known as a successful procedure even to many physicians in India when we first started. Our experience has helped to create a huge awareness about the liver disease, organ donation and liver transplantation among the public, patients, and medical fraternity,” said Dr Rela.
His team has offered both deceased donors and live donor transplantations in the state. Tamil Nadu was awarded for performing highest number of organ transplants in the country for the third consecutive year in 2017 by the Government of India and completion of 1,000 liver transplants adds to the honour of the state.
