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| Edited By: Alifiya Khan |Source: DNA |Updated: Nov 05, 2011, 03:32 PM IST
The continuing absence of a cross matching facility, the essential laboratory test required to perform cadaveric organ donations in Pune, is proving to be the biggest stumbling block for successful organ transplants.
Presently, the facility is available only in Mumbai. Pune-based transplant co-ordinators have blamed government apathy for not making crucial technology available in the city, which, according to them, is putting off even willing families from making organ donations.
Not surprisingly, with an average of eight cadaveric transplants taking place annually in the city, there are as many as 283 patients
in the waiting list for a kidney donation from brain-dead patients.
“The cross matching test needs to be performed before taking the decision for organ retrieval. We do not have the facility in Pune and have to send samples to Mumbai every time. Reports take 24 hours as response is slow. Many times, we lose the patient and organ during the wait,” complained Surekha Joshi, transplant co-ordinator, Ruby Hall Clinic.
Cadaver donation is often the last resort for kidney failure patients after they are unable to find a family member or friend willing to donate kidneys. Vrunda Pusadkar, transplant co-ordinator at Jehangir Hospital and representative of Zonal Transplant Co-ordination Committee (ZTCC), recalled a recent case where a family was willing to donate the organs but later backed out due to delay in cross matching reports.
“The family did not agree to wait another 24 hours for organ donation and only then donated the corneas. At such a time, families are so shaken that we cannot even reason with them. If the government makes the cross match facility available in Pune, we can do many more cadaver donations,” Pusadkar said.
The cross matching hurdle was pointed out by Pusadkar and a few other representatives from Pune hospitals at a meeting called at Aarogya Bhavan in Mumbai on Monday to discuss the implementation of amendments in Human Organ Transplants Act.
