CHENNAI: In a bid to acknowledge and extend gratitude to organ donors, health minister C. Vijayabaskar felicitated families of organ donors at Government Medical College Omandurar on Thursday.
The families of 10 organ donors were honoured along with nine transplant coordinators for their services. Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) was awarded as the best hospital in government sector for highest number of 19 organ donations, while Velammal Medical College and Hospital was awarded for best hospital in private sector with 14 organ donations, for the period of one year from November 2017 to October 2018. The best organ coordinator team was bagged by RGGGH.
Three hospitals were awarded for their services as non-transplant organ retrieval centres, while Stanley Medical College and Hospital received the award for the first hand transplant at a government hospital in the state. Kilpauk Medical College was honoured for its recently launched biomaterial center.
Tamil Nadu leads in organ transplantation all over the country with a total number of 1,225 donors from the state and a remarkable number of 7,094 organ transplants since 2008.
Tamil Nadu secured the top positions in organ donation and has won the award for the same for fourth consecutive time this year by National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) and the Union health ministry. Around 933 organ donations took place last year and as on date, the state has 9,935 pledged donors.
“Tamil Nadu is also excelling in multi-organ transplant at the same time and non-organ Transplant Retrieval Centre have also been introduced in government and private hospitals. Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme is ensuring the transplants are covered under the scheme for financially backward people.
Organ transplant and surgeries are being expanded to the tier II cities of Tamil Nadu,” said Vijaybaskar.
