Thiruvananthapuram: COVID-19 has severely affected organ transplantation in the government hospitals of Kerala. Considering the difficulties in providing adequate safety measures, transplants from only two brain dead persons and 30 live people have been conducted in the state’s government sector so far this year.
On the other hand, even though the pandemic has impacted the functioning of private hospitals also, they have carried out transplants from 16 brain dead people.
In the government sector, transplant surgeries are done at the Medical Colleges in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam and Kozhikode. Among them, facilities for heart transplants are available only at Government Medical College, Kottayam.
Organs can be transplanted from a deceased person only if a certificate regarding brain death is issued by a team of four doctors after two examinations at intervals of six hours. In addition, a consent letter has to be given by the patient’s relatives. Brain death is confirmed by doctors who are part of a panel set up for the purpose in each district.
In normal cases, hospitals do not take up the initiative to invite the panel of doctors to certify a brain death. Instead, transplants often take place only when relatives invite the panel to confirm that a person is brain dead.
