Southern States - Karnataka

Poor patients to get free kidney transplants

By S. Rajendran

Bangalore May 2. The Institute of Nephro-Urology, to be established on the Victoria Hospital campus here soon, will be a state-of-the-art facility and the first of its kind to be set up by a State Government.

The autonomous centre, which will be administered by a governing body headed either by the Chief Minister or the Minister for Medical Education, will help control the existing racket in kidney transplantation.

The Minister of State for Medical Education, Dr. Parameshwar, and the Special Officer and Professor of Urology, Bangalore Medical College, G.K. Venkatesh told The Hindu here that the Institute of Nephro-Urology would start functioning by August. The super-speciality centre would be developed in phases over a two-year period and was estimated to cost around Rs. 17 crore.

According to estimates, there are over one lakh fresh cases of renal failure in the country every year, but hardly 20 per cent of the patients are able to obtain medical attention. Only around two per cent of patients can be provided with a new kidney not just because of the short supply or the poor availability of donor kidneys, but also due to the lack of adequate medical facilities. The Department of Nephrology and Urology at the Victoria Hospital campus has, since inception, conducted just two kidney transplants due to various reasons. This state of affairs will improve with the commissioning of the Institute of Nephro-Urology.

The funds for running the institution will come in the form of grants from the Government, internal revenue generated by the centre and donations from philanthropic people and organisations.

Dr. Venkatesh said that apart from providing the best medical care to patients with kidney problems, the institute would also serve as a research centre in nephrology and urology. Eminent experts from various parts of the country and abroad would be requested to participate in research programmes and provide valuable inputs to the younger generation of specialists in the field.

Dr. Parameshwar said private and corporate hospitals in Bangalore, on an average, conducted five kidney transplants a day although the need was for at least 25 transplants. While the cadaveric kidney transplantation concept promoted by the Government was yet to gain popularity, the Government had, by and large, checked the sale of kidneys.

For the first time in the country, the institute would be linked with all government district hospitals and would serve as a referral hospital for renal failure cases. Patients would undergo dialysis at the district hospitals and then be shifted to the institute here for kidney transplantation, if required.

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