Kidney units yet to open in 2 MCHs

BHUBANESWAR: With a number of poor patients falling victim to kidney ailments in Southern region of the State, health experts and organisations working in the field have demanded a kidney transplantation unit at MKCG Medical College and Hospital at Berhampur.Though following a directive from Orissa High Court, a transplantation unit started functioning at SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) from March 2012, there is no such facility at Veer Surenra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Burla and MKCG Medical College and Hospital.

On August 20, 2010, the HC had directed the State Government to put suitable transplantation facilities at the three medical colleges and hospitals at Cuttack, Berhampur and Burla.Managing trustee of Multi Organ Transplantation and Human and Educational Research (MOTHER), a social organisation, TN Panda said even as the transplantation unit at SCBMCH has been conducting surgeries, it has no testing facility to ascertain the compatibility between donor and recipient for which the hospital authorities have been outsourcing necessary tests. “It is not only expensive but also delays transplantation by more than a week, putting the recipient’s life at risk. The State Government has decided to set up dialysis facilities at district headquarters hospitals but it should not forget the HC directive,’’ he maintained.

The organisation has recently appraised the matter to Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena demanding a transplantation unit at Berhampur at the earliest. Panda said around 70 persons in villages located close to Odisha Sands Complex at Matikhala in Ganjam district have died of renal failure in the last three years and 200 more are suffering from kidney ailments, allegedly due to consumption of contaminated water. “Surprisingly the CDMO, Executive Engineer of rural water supply department and regional officer of State Pollution Control Board have found no contamination of water.

We demand the Government should take second opinion for assessment of contamination by Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) or Asian Institute of Public Health (AIPH),” he demanded. Disposing of another petition in 2014, the HC had also directed the State to frame a scheme similar to Jeevan Daan scheme in Andhra Pradesh for cadaveric transplantation, but the Odisha Government is yet to implement the directive, Panda pointed out.