Telangana Govt teaching hospitals to take-up brain dead declaration

State government on Thursday directed all teaching hospitals to start the process of declaring critical trauma patients, who can’t recover from their fatal injuries, as brain dead.

Hyderabad: To reduce the long waiting time for donor organs among needy patients in Telangana and ensure organ transplant surgeries are taken up frequently in the government hospitals, the State government on Thursday directed all teaching hospitals to start the process of declaring critical trauma patients, who can’t recover from their fatal injuries, as brain dead.

Since the launch of Jeevandan organ donation initiative in 2013, teaching hospitals including Osmania General Hospital (OGH) and Gandhi Hospital that receive a substantial number of road accident victims, have not been able declare critical trauma patients as brain dead.

Health Minister, T Harish Rao on Thursday in a review of organ transplant initiative said that since government hospitals were not taking up brain dead declaration, the organs of brain dead patients were not being utilised for needy patients.
There is a need for all teaching hospitals in districts and even in Hyderabad to start declaring critical patients as brain dead. If that happens, the donor organs can be harvested and more number of organ transplant surgeries can be taken-up in government hospitals, he said.

Typically, from a brain dead person, organs including two kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, corneas, skin and even tissues can be harvested, which in turn help patients on the waiting list of Jeevandan. “We can save lives of at least five people from a single brain dead patient. To reduce the waiting time for donor organs, brain dead declaration and organ donation must be taken-up on government hospitals,” Harish Rao said.

He directed senior health officials including Health Secretary, S A M Rizvi, Director of Medical Education (DME), Dr K Ramesh Reddy, Commissioner, TVVP, Ajay Kumar and Director, NIMS, Dr K Manohar to prepare necessary guidelines and protocols on brain dead declaration that have to be established in all teaching hospitals.