In an effort to make the organ transplantation programme transparent and effective, the State government is considering the introduction of an air ambulance service.
At a high-level meeting attended by Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, deans of government medical colleges/hospitals and representatives of major private hospitals, it was proposed to study the viability of the service.
The meeting was convened by the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (Transtan). The participants urged the State government to streamline and regulate the cost and logistics of air ambulance services.
High cost
The cost of transporting organs is high and is usually passed on to the recipient.
The Union Ministry of Health had advised all States to render financial assistance to poor patients who could not incur such huge costs. In another significant move, doctors representing government and private hospitals agreed that the provision for “urgent listing” be abolished.
Currently, hospitals can seek organs on priority by certifying that the patients are suffering hyper acute rejection and primary graft dysfunction in the case of hearts and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, mechanical ventilation and primary graft dysfunction in the case of lungs. Some transplant surgeons expressed concern over the continuance of the “urgent listing” facility since there was scope for misuse.
Since post-transplant information is presently not available with the State government, it has been proposed that the surgeons in recipient hospitals send an e-mail to Transtan giving information on the status of the organ allocated and the details of the recipient within 24 hours of the transplant.