Global Hospitals sets a record of 300 liver transplants

Organ donation can save thousands of lives every year

The Hyderabad-based Global Hospitals has made a record by registering more than 300 successful liver transplant surgeries in the country. With the 300th liver transplant conducted successfully on a Nellore based patient, doctors at Global Hospitals celebrated their achievement on World Liver Day on Friday.

According to Dr K Ravindranath, chairman and managing director of the hospital group, lack of awareness and drastic lifestyle changes are some of the major reasons that are pushing the liver related disorders to endemic proportions in India. At present the country is home to 11 per cent of the world’s patients affected by chronic Hepatitis B and about two lakh people die due to liver cancer or cirrhosis of liver in the country. “It is estimated that about 0.02 per cent of population i.e., about 25,000 persons need liver transplant every year. The need of the hour is to remove the myths and increase awareness about organ donation among the public,” said Dr K Ravindranath.

So far, the hospital group has conducted a total of 600 liver transplant surgeries at its four centers viz., Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai. Among the four centres, Hyderabad Global Hospital has reached the record of performing 300 successful liver transplant surgeries in the country.

Dr Tom Cherian, who is a leading liver transplant surgeon at Global Hospitals, opined that detecting the liver disease at an early stage would help avoid liver transplant.

The cost of liver transplant ranges from Rs18 lakh to Rs 25 lakh depending upon the complexity of the disease. Though the state government had initiated cadaver donation schemes like Jeevandan, it lacked adequate infrastructure facilities and fund crunch.

The major reason for liver disorders and liver cancer in India is attributed to smoking, hypertension and drinking alcohol. Doctors expressed concern as there is huge rise in the number of paediatric liver cases. Children with end stage liver disease have a very short and miserable life. Acute liver failure is another rising concern among the healthy population these days. It strikes young people in their prime. High fever, jaundice and unconsciousness are the major symptoms of acute liver failure. This disorder has high a mortality rate with 70-80 per cent if not treated properly.

The doctors also viewed that in India, the cadaver donor rate is only 0.3 per cent and only 800-900 transplant surgeries are happening in the country annually, while in western countries like the USA and the UK, 5000-6000 organ transplant surgeries are conducted annually.

For India to reach that stage the cadaver donation rate should reach at least 3 per cent so that it will facilitate doctors to perform organ transplant surgeries on 18000 to 25000 patients annually without having to wait for the donor.