The first donation in Raipur happened in Ramakrishna Care Hospital in November 2022, a private hospital performing kidney and liver transplants.

It was only in October 2022 that the state of Chhattisgarh adopted the amended law (Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994), which subsequently led to the formation of SOTTO at Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Medical College, Raipur, under its first director, Dr. Vineet Jain. Multiple meetings were held, and committees were formed. An organ allocation policy was formulated. While the will was always there, all this effort gave an impetus to the program.

Did AIIMS, Raipur receive any of the organs from the first deceased donation?

No. Both the kidneys and the liver were transplanted in Ramakrishna Care Hospital as no other centre had initiated transplant program back then. AIIMS Raipur only began its kidney transplant program in December 2022. It was a living donor kidney transplant.

When did AIIMS Raipur did its first deceased donation?

It was in February 2023. The donor was a young nursing officer in the renal transplantation ward itself. Her parents and brother who travelled from Delhi gave the consent and she became the first deceased organ donor of AIIMS Raipur.

Incidentally, on January 25, 2023, AIIMS Raipur hosted a one-day workshop titled ‘Strengthening of Organ Donation & Transplantation process’. The workshop was an initiative of the Department of Nephrology along with the Department of Ophthalmology, Nursing Officers Association of AIIMS Raipur, MOHAN Foundation, and NATCO.

Since then, two more donations have taken place in AIIMS Raipur and three more in Ramakrishna Care Hospital, taking the total deceased donors number to six since November 2022.

One of the deceased donor kidneys from AIIMS Raipur was shared with Shri Balaji Hospital that helped them initiate their renal transplant program. In one of the donations, a green corridor was created to transport liver to a centre in Nagpur.

How many transplants has AIIMS Raipur performed so far?

AIIMS Raipur has performed 18 kidney transplants in the last one year – 14 living related and 4 deceased donor transplants. 16 of those 18 transplants were done under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and were free of cost to patients.

Are there any other transplant centres in Chhattisgarh?

Seven hospitals in Raipur and two in Bilaspur have applied and are in the process of being registered for renal transplants. Ramakrishna Care Hospital is the only centre performing liver transplants in Raipur.

 What other initiatives are being undertaken to raise awareness on organ donation?

We are regularly conducting talks and pledging campaigns. We are planning to organize transplant games on the upcoming World Kidney Day. We raise awareness about organ donation by delivering talks in different colleges with the help of SOTTO and NOTTO.

Ramakrishna Care Hospital regularly organizes walkathons to raise awareness about the subject.

Any last thoughts as we close?

Almost all states have a AIIMS in various stages of development. I strongly feel that each one must work towards becoming a retrieval centre and subsequently start transplant programs. That is the only way transplants will become affordable for the poor.