Kochi: Organ donation misunderstandings dispelled

Kochi: At a time when Kerala is lagging in organ donation amid a lot of misgivings, the stakeholders are coming together to dispel misgivings and portray a true picture of organ donation so that no opportunity to kindle lives through the means is lost.

The first in such series, an all-Kerala transplant coordinators workshop was held here, organised by the regional centre of Kerala Network of Organ Sharing (KNOS) with scientific sessions.

Around 70 transplant coordinators from across the state attended the workshop, apart from transplant nurses and public relations officers.

“'When Maharashtra had 83 brain dead donors, Tamil Nadu 63 and Telangana 64, Kerala had only 10 brain dead donors in 2019. This is a very discouraging situation,” said Anitta Francis, transplant coordinator, regional centre, KNOS, Government Medical College, Ernakulam.

“For understanding the root cause behind the decline in deceased organ donation in the state, we thought of having a gathering of all the transplant coordinators in our state, since they are the frontline communicators during the organ donation process,” said Anitta.

The transplant co-ordinators taking part in sessions said that doctors need to be cautious while dealing with cases of brain death. “In several cases when a patient becomes brain dead, the neurologist/treating physician informs the patient’s relatives about the condition and talks about organ donation simultaneously. This should not happen. Conversation about organ donation should happen separately and also the relatives should be fully aware of the brain dead condition of the patient,” said by Mr Aneesh P.V., transplant coordinator, south zone, KNOS, Govern-ment Medical College Trivandrum.

Addressing a session, Dr K.P. Jayakumar, nodal officer, central zone, KNOS, and HoD of Nephrology, Gover-nment Medical College, Kottayam, said, “the problem for organ donation is not the public since our people are well educated”.

Dr Noble Gracious, nodal officer, south zone KNOS, exhorted the transplant co-ordinators to do their job at its best without being concerned about its outcome.

 The different sessions covered topics like ‘change in GOs on organ donation & transplantation,’ ‘introduction of transplant procurement manager (TPM), ‘legal/ethical concerns on donation & transplantation,’ among others.

Dr Usha Samuel, nodal officer, regional centre-KNOS, HoD of Nephrology, Government Medical College, Ernakulam, and Dr Thomas Mathew, state convener of KNOS addressed the sessions.