THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Legal frameworks need to be worked out for organ transplantation, especially when the organs are harvested from persons not technically dead, said Health Secretary Rajeev Sadanandan at a workshop on cadaver organ transplantation held here on Monday.The workshop was a joint initiative of the Central and State Governments to create a greater awareness on issues related to organ transplantation among doctors, public health workers and the general public.“Thankfully Tamil Nadu has worked out in detail the legal formalities and therefore we have a starting point. Apart from the legal side, even though there is a time constraint, care should also be taken while approaching the relatives of the patients. Grief counsellors have a big role to play here,” said Rajeev Sadanandan.The Health Secretary said that refusing an organ transplant was very difficult for any doctor, especially if the patient was a youngster. “There are many youngsters who fall victim to traffic accidents and it is very important this organ transplant and donation programme takes off in the state in a big way. Hopefully this would no longer be a novelty but a norm in our medical colleges,” he said.Shashi Tharoor MP, in his presidential address said that organ transplant was of fundamental importance to our society."There has to be a public awareness campaign on this. There are many persons with a good heart, but who are not aware of how to go about it. There has to be a sensible national system and the donors need to be assured that they will not incur any legal risks. If Tamil Nadu can do it, I do not know why other states cannot follow suit and why Kerala should not be on the forefront of organ donation,” said Shashi Tharoor.National Organ Transplant ActN K Mohanty, special DG, DGHS, Ministry of Health, who is participating in the workshop said that the National Organ Transplant Act was awaiting the nod of the President, which once given the green signal would bring all states under one umbrella."Even while health is a state subject, there shall be an authority which will be an apex body with a board of governors, that will be headed by the Union Minister. All the Health Secretaries of various states and the directors of medical education will be members of the same,” said Mohanty.A national network for organ transplant is already in place. A national transplant registry with the list of potential donors and recipients will be put up online. The registry is being created with technical expertise from the University of Melbourne, which has one of the best transplant registries in the world.Transplant coordinators will be appointed after being trained by the Central Government and it will be these transplant coordinators who have to motivate the relatives. The training would be carried out with the help of Spain and an MoU has been signed between the Central and State Governments.“The manpower and infrastructure of 15 Medical Colleges will be upgraded on a war-footing so as to function as transplant centres,” said Mohanty. “There shall also be measures to stop organ trafficking,” he added.The Centre will cushion the whole programme for the first five years after which the states will take over.
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