Now for the first time, the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), which distributes cadaver organs, has persuaded Jaslok Hospital, Pedder Road, to proceed with the kidney transplantation of a 12-year-old boy, urging it to perform the surgery first and raise the funds from various sources later.
The young recipient, the son of a mechanic who was not prepared with the requisite funds, would have been passed up for another patient on the wait-list if not for the ZTCC intervention.
The ZTCC now intends to encourage more hospitals to adopt a similar approach, ensuring that individuals in need of organs are not overlooked solely due to financial constraints. The cost of a transplant can range from Rs 7 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, depending on the organ involved and the centre where the surgery is being performed.
“This issue is prevalent nationwide, where patients frequently find themselves unprepared financially on the day when an organ becomes suddenly available,” S K Mathur, president, ZTCC, said.
In situations where funds are anticipated from trusts or government schemes, hospitals can be confident that the necessary finances will eventually materialise. In the state, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY) pays Rs 2.5 lakh for kidney transplants. The new version of scheme will increase it to Rs 4 lakh.
The CM’s Relief Fund also supports transplant patients.
Mathur said Jaslok Hospital cooperated in the case of the 12-year-old boy, Aditya Chaudhary, and made the surgery possible. Recipients may face wait times ranging from months to eight or nine years and often receive short notice, sometimes just hours, to come for the transplant once an organ becomes available.
Chaudhary, who had been waiting for a kidney for months, suddenly found a rare paediatric donor last week.
The transplant was carried out on January 30.