3 people successfully received kidney & liver transplants from brain-dead patients

KATHMANDU: Kidneys and livers have been successfully transplanted in three people from brain dead people  at the Human Organ Transplant Centre (Shahid Dharma Bhakta Hospital).

Dr. Pukar Chandra Shrestha, the center’s executive director, announced today at a press conference at the Ministry of Health and Population that organs obtained from one person had been successfully transplanted into three people.

‘The center and a team of Indian doctors successfully transplanted kidneys and liver from a 17-year-old girl who died in a traffic accident last Tuesday,’ he said.

A 47-year-old man from Rupandehi Mayadevi Rural Municipality-4 in Siraha district and a 35-year-old man from Siraha Municipality-1 in Siraha district received kidney transplants from the deceased girl. A 68-year-old man from Lalitpur Metropolitan City-25 also received a liver transplant.

For the first time since May 11, 2017, the center began transplanting organs from brain-dead patients. Dr. Shrestha stated that so far, organs have been obtained from five people and transplanted in 13 people at the center.

According to Dr. Shrestha, 1,000 people per year die from brain death, but only a small number of organs are donated. According to the first amendment of the Human Body Organ Transplantation (Regulation and Prohibition) Act 2072, Dr. Shrestha stated that, while there is a provision for the hospital to notify the center through the coordination unit, the hospital is hesitant to do so.

‘In the world, 80 percent of transplants are obtained from people who have died in an accident. But in Nepal, the number of donors is low due to the reluctance of hospitals to inform the center and the general lack of awareness about it, he said.

Dr. Roshan Pokharel, Secretary of the Ministry, stated that the number of people donating organs for transplantation has not increased due to a lack of public awareness. ‘If organs can be donated after brain death, the lives of many patients suffering from other diseases can be saved,’ he says. However, it is unfortunate that the number of organ donors cannot be increased due to a lack of public awareness.’

Dr. Roshan Ghimire, Dr. Lalit Kumar Das and Indian transplant specialist doctors participated in the liver transplant.

Doctors working in surgery including Prof. Dr. Rakesh Kumar Verma, Prof. Dr. Pawan Chalise, Dr. Dipesh Shrestha, Dr. Ravikiran Gautam, Dr. Hari Baral and Dr. Rojan Adhikari participated in the kidney transplant work. Dr. Aarti Rai, Dr. Niva Shrestha, Dr. Sovit Thapa and Dr. Rashmit Shrestha participated in anesthesia and critical care.