KEM all set to be 1st civic hosp for pancreatic transplant prog

Days after the civic-run King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital got its first cadaver retrieval operation theatre, the authorities have now decided to apply for a license for pancreas transplant and will soon start hiring a dedicated team. The proposal has been sent to the Directorate of Health Services (DHS). This will make KEM the first public hospital to start a pancreas transplant programme. The hospital has been doing cadaver liver transplants and kidney transplants.

A senior hospital official said the pancreas transplant programme will help many poor patients who cannot afford to get treated at private hospitals where costs are prohibitive, sometimes over Rs 20 lakh.

A pancreas transplant is a surgical procedure to place a healthy pancreas from a deceased donor into a person whose pancreas no longer functions properly. Almost all such transplants are undertaken as treatment for type 1 diabetes.

In pancreatic transplants, the patient survival rate is over 95 per cent in the first year and 88 per cent at five years. As per the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee (ZTCC), there are 14 people on the waiting list for a combined pancreas plus kidney transplants in Mumbai.

Additional municipal commissioner (health) Suresh Kakani said BMC hospitals have both the infrastructure and expertise. “We need trained doctors for transplants and initiating information, education and communication. We will also create more awareness about organ donation among people, especially in BMC hospitals,” he said.

Dr Farah Ingale, director of internal medicine at Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi, said, “Diabetes can be cured by a pancreatic transplant, which eliminates the requirement for insulin. It is, however, preferable to perform both a pancreas and kidney transplant at the same time.”

Among the private hospitals in Mumbai, Global Hospital and Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital (KDAH) have been doing pancreas transplants. With low cadaver donations in India and poor awareness of pancreas transplants, experts said the pancreas transplant programme has not picked up.

Dr Somnath Chattopadhyay, the head of hepatobiliary surgery and liver transplant at KDAH said they have two patients on the waiting list. “Many patients prefer insulin shots rather than a transplant. There is a lack of awareness among endocrinologists on pancreas transplants and they do not refer patients for the same,” he said.

BMC hospitals have both the infrastructure and expertise. “We need trained doctors for transplants and initiating information, education and communication. —SURESH KAKANI, ADDITIONAL MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER