Spain has one of the best systems for cadaver organ donations: Dr Shah

Post the Hiranandani Hospital kidney scam in Mumbai last year, Dr Bharat Shah, director of Institute of Renal Sciences, Global Hospital, and the then Secretary of the Indian Nephrology Association for the West Zone, raised the issue of protecting doctors from being made the scapegoats. He says the knee jerk reaction to illegal transplants by authorities have made live donor transplants more cumbersome affecting patients.

Where does India stand on kidney transplants?

Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune are the most active cities in case of kidney transplants. However, the number of transplants is very poor. If we were doing 40 and it has now jumped to 80, but are still very far from what is needed in Mumbai. Delhi fares worse in cadaver kidney transplants. Efforts are needed from all side: the government has to push it, doctors have to be very aggressive and people need to participate more.

What is the best working model for organ donation?

Spain has one of the best systems in place. A road traffic accident victim who may have suffered head trauma is airlifted to a good centre that can try to revive the patient. If, however, he is declared brain dead, then it is presumed that the victim wants to donate their organs. There, patients needing transplant have an average waiting period of a week, not months or years. In India, the waiting list is long but it is fallaciously short. It is long because the number of cadaver organ transplants happening are few but short, as many people are not guided to register on the waiting list. A majority of the cities don't even maintain a waiting list.

How have recent kidney scams in Mumbai and Delhi affected live donor transplants?

Where things went wrong was probably the production of fake documents that showed a relationship between a donor and patient, and role a transplant coordinator on who everyone relied. Unfortunately, doctors were made victims. It is upto the Hospital Authorization Committee to look into the validity of documents. Maybe they made a mistake but that doesn't mean you make doctors the scapegoat. Most of us felt that arrests should not have been made until investigations were completed. Also, instead of trying to make things better for the doctors, the process is now more cumbersome for the patients. Family of the patients, who are already under considerable stress, are required to go from pillar to post to fill more forms. It is the common man who suffers.

An estimated two lakh Indians are diagnosed with kidney ailments each year. What can be done about this?

About 60 out of 100 kidney patients suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure. Controlling these can prevent kidney failure. It will also prevent heart failure, paralysis and strokes. Centres for regular check-ups, educating patients on how to take care of their diabetes and medication is needed. Steer clear of under researched alternate therapies, they can make cases of kidney ailments worse.