The state government has authorised 20 hospitals across the state to carry out transplants. However, most of these hospitals reported live transplants and no cadaver transplants which is most essential to launch a full-fledged transplant programme, according to Satnam Singh, secretary, National Kidney Foundation of India (NKFI).

The government should derecognise hospitals which are not carrying out cadaver transplants though at the same time it should take appropriate steps to encourage such operations, Singh said. ``The post-mortem examination of the cadaver should be done at the same hospital where the transplant has to be undertaken, so that relatives need not go to the coroners court to get the body,'' he suggested.

However, a senior official of the state Directorate of Health Services (DHS)said no hospital can be forced to carry out cadaver transplants since there is no such provision in the Human Organ Transplantation Act, 1995. He disclosed that the directorate has convened a meeting with administrators of all private hospitals to discuss their problems and encourage them to carry out cadaver transplants.

Meanwhile, following the success of liver transplant at Jaslok Hospital recently, efforts are on to set up a National Liver Foundation to promote the cause of transplants and treatment of other liver diseases. According to Dr Sanjay Nagral, consultant surgeon at Jaslok, a public campaign involving public and private hospitals will be launched this month to spread awareness about transplants among general public.

The success story involving young Pallavi Kadam who received a liver transplant from her father on November 28, 1998 is considered a boost to the transplant programme. The transplant was done jointly by a team of doctors from Jaslok Hopsital and King's College Hospital, London.Dr Nagral said Pallavi was discharged on February 1 and is progressing well. Though she did suffered bouts of rejection of the transplant, this was quite common in such cases and she was treated for this problem, he added. A recent CT scan showed that Pallavi's `new' liver, which was around 300 cc at the time of the transplant, has now grown to around 700 cc, the surgeon said. This meant that she recovering speedily and has already started walking and speaking, he said. Apart from avoiding crowded places, she will live a normal life and can even join school in a few weeks, though she may not be able to appear for her SSC exams, he added.