Hereafter, Kerala govt to keep a tab on living organ donation too

Thiruvananthapuram: In the wake of a Crime Branch probe into the illegal organ trade in Kerala, the state government has decided to further regulate organ donation and organ transplant surgeries. An online registry will now be set up for availing live organs too. Currently, only cadaver organ donations and transplants are under the state government’s control under the Kerala Network for Organ Donation, also known as the Mrithasanjeevani programme.

A society would be now formed to monitor organ or tissue donation by living persons. Organ harvest from brain dead too could be brought under it. This entity could also be tasked to keep a tab on surgery fees too.

These key decisions were taken during a high-level meet chaired by Principal Secretary (Health) Dr Rajan Khobragade.

Though the deceased donor organ transplantation programme of the state is fairly successful, it has to now work out the process of living donation. (Living donation refers to the donation of an organ or part of it for transplantation to another person by a living person.)

Recently, it was reported that over 5,000 illegal organ transplants took place in Kerala during the last five years. A racket involved in illegal organ transplant reportedly misguided their targets and induced them into donating organs by convincing them it was part of a government programme. The mafia likely made crores of rupees through the illegal operation. A majority of such cases pertained to transplantation of kidney, liver, pancreas and small intestine.