Bengaluru: With 6,291 patients waiting for an organ, Karnataka has decided to form an Organ Transplant Visionary Committee to recommend ways to increase deceased donor transplants, expand government-hospital capacity and improve public awareness.
The decision was taken at a progress review meeting of the State Organ Transplant Advisory Committee on Thursday, presided over by Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader. The waiting-patient figure was cited in the meeting update.
District hospitals and medical colleges in focus
The proposed committee will be headed by Dr Nagesh, Director of the Institute of Gastroenterology Sciences & Organ Transplant (IGOT).
Its recommendations will focus on strengthening the deceased donor transplant programme through four priorities:
- Brain death certification and organ retrieval in all district hospitals and government medical colleges.
- More organ transplant facilities in government hospitals.
- Early launch of the new organ allocation and tracking software.
- Renewal of transplant centre registrations that have lapsed.
These are areas identified for the committee’s recommendations. The decision to form the panel does not mean that all the proposed facilities or the new software are already operational.
Appeal to pledge organ donation
The review also placed emphasis on raising awareness of deceased organ donation, highlighting that one donor can save several lives.
People wishing to pledge organ donation can visit the Jeevasarthakathe portal, which provides organ-donation information and a “Be an Organ Donor” option.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Rithvik Ranjanam Pandey, and Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde.
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