Hospitals to be ‘retrieval centres’ for organs; must keep govt in loop

Days after former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh died of multiple organ failure, the Maharashtra government has decided to allow designated hospitals to operate as "retrieval centres" for organs, and made it mandatory for the hospitals to provide information about brain dead patients to the authorities.

A committee headed by the health secretary was formed six months ago to recommend measures to improve organ donation in the state. The panel met for a final time last week and submitted its report to the government on Wednesday.

Hospitals with 25 beds and an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) will act as "retrieval centres". "We will identify hospitals with ICUs to operate as retrieval centres where the organ from brain dead patients can be retrieved. Retrievals will be done by experts, who will perform transplants in authorised hospitals," Health Minister Suresh Shetty said.

Shetty said he would soon call a meeting of experts to seek help with measures to streamline the process of organ donation in coordination with hospitals. A meeting on the subject on Wednesday also discussed ways to encourage students to donate organs while filling college admission forms.

The Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee currently authorises cadaver organ donation; a separate panel authorises live donation from relatives and individuals.

"The right to permit organ donation after death or in brain dead patients lies with immediate relatives. There is a need to create awareness to encourage donations. In 80 per cent cases, relatives decide to donate after counselling, though the patient may never have expressed a desire to donate," a health department official said.

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