Armed forces lead by example

When it comes to cadaveric organ transplants, the Indian armed forces are leading the way by performing as many as 300 cadaveric kidney transplants in 2010 alone.

This gives the men in uniform an enviable statistics of 40% (four out of every 10) brain-dead soldiers and officers donating their organs after death.

Disclosing this to media persons in Pune at the closing ceremony of the three-day 59th armed forces medical conference on Friday, Lt Gen Naresh Kumar, officiating director general of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), said that 120 of these transplants were done at the Army Hospital (Research and Referral) in New Delhi and the rest were performed in army hospitals across the country.

Kumar also said the armed forces have successfully performed 50 liver transplants and two cadaveric heart transplants in the last two years.

“We have been successful after years of planning and systematic information dissemination across all our units in the army, navy and air force,” he said.

The message of cadaveric transplants had been disseminated at the regimental level and even special motorcycle rallies were undertaken across the country to spread the message. However, roadblocks still exist.

Major General Mandeep Singh, additional director general of AFMS, pointed out how the army could not airlift the kidneys of a brain-dead soldier from Mumbai to Delhi, because the Maharashtra government’s organ transplant rule did not permit an inter-state transfer. “We have approached the central government and have asked them to write to all state governments asking them to amend this rule,” he said.

The senior army medical officers stated that corneal transplants had become routine and all armed forces eye banks had a facility to store corneas.

DNA, in its February 1 and February 4 issues, had highlighted a case where the family of a brain-dead, Gujarati Jain paint dealer had donated his kidneys, an act that received the support of Jain community and spiritual leaders.