Insurance

Insurance cover for organ transplants to go up

image

The government is working towards widening the scope of insurance under the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayi Arogya Yojna (RGJAY) and may bring all organ transplants under its ambit. It is also considering revision of the insurance amount, said union surface transport minister Nitin Gadkari here on Saturday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of a continuing medical education (CME) for creating awareness about organ donation in doctors organized jointly by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and Wockhardt Hospital. On the occasion, Wockhardt also launched a helpline for organ donation. People can call up on 9604442277 for any queries about the subject.

Gadkari said that at present, not all organ transplants are covered under the RGJAY. Also, the amount ensured for each transplant as insurance is not appropriate. Hence, he said, the government is thinking of revising these rates. Talking about the ever increasing road accidents in the country and state, he appreciated the IMA’s first ever initiative to promote organ donation as a movement. In Maharashtra alone, there are 2,500 identified spots with very high probability of accidents. The minister said that the government would be taking measures to make them accident free by redesigning the roads.

The union minister also said that the government was considering the issue of adding a tag of ‘I am an organ donor’ in the driving licence of individuals who wish to donate their organs after death. This, he said, would increase the chances of more cadaver donations.

North Nagpur MLA Dr Milind Mane was also present on the occasion.

IMA has launched an ‘Organ Procurement and Donation’ or OPD in collaboration with Wockhardt Hospital in city. Dr Sanjay Kolte, urosurgeon at Wockhardt, was the convener of the CME and the public forum held in the form of question answer session.

Dr Rajinder Pal Singh, organ transplant surgeon from Manchester while delivering a talk on ‘organ harvesting, preparation and transplantation’, gave an overview of organ transplants. He also spoke about pancreas transplant programme in UK which is yet to reach the developing countries.

Dr Gaurav Gupta and Dr Anurag Shrimal, both transplant surgeons from Wockhardt hospital in Mumbai, explained the relevance of awareness about brain death and diagnosing brain death.

The organizers also felicitated organ donors and recipients to impress upon the general public to come forward for cadaveric donations. The persons felicitated included Amol Nagose, the first recipient of a cadaveric kidney at Wockhardt hospital in the city in 2012, Smita Thakre and Kanchan Wasani who shared their experience with Dr Suryashree Pande. K Sujatha, centre head of Wockhardt Hospital, introduced the concept of cadaveric transplants.

Nephrologist Dr Sameer Chaubey spoke on cadaveric transplantations while Dr Dhananjay Selukar shared the experience of performing first live kidney transplant at Super Speciality Hospital recently along with Dr Sanjay Kolte. Dr Prakash Khetan, Dr Y S Deshpande, Dr Charu Bawankule chaired various sessions. IMA president Dr Ajay Kate and secretary Dr Sarita Ugemuge conducted the proceedings.

The Times of India

One Comment

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *