KEM to soon become first hospital to secure a licence for pancreas transplant

Before applying for the licence, KEM Hospital needs a surgeon on board and needs to complete some paperwork. File pic

If everything goes as per plan, civic-run KEM Hospital will soon become the first hospital to secure a licence for a pancreas transplant. One of the senior officials from KEM Hospital said, "The hospital already has a licence for kidney and liver transplants but now we will apply for a pancreas transplant licence as well."

Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani confirming the development, said, "We have the required infrastructure and we will apply for a licence soon. We also need a trained doctor who can retrieve organs from cadavers, hence, we started a new cadaver retrieval operation theatre. We will train our doctors for that. We need to create more awareness about organ donation among people, especially in BMC hospitals. If people are willing to donate and our doctors are trained to retrieve and transplant the organ, we will be able to save more lives."

A senior doctor from KEM Hospital said, "Before applying for the licence, we need a surgeon on board and need to finish some paperwork." Former medical director of BMC major hospital and medical college, surgical gastroenterologist Dr Avinash Supe said, "KEM doctors are already conducting liver transplants, so I don't think they need more infrastructure. Our doctors are capable of conducting pancreas transplant. It would be a great move if they apply for a license and get approval for the same."

Dr Farah Ingale, Director-Internal Medicine, Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi, said, "Candidates for pancreatic transplants are people with Type 1 diabetes suffering from kidney failure, nerve damage, vision issues, or other complications. The right candidate for a transplant can also be a patient with chronic kidney disease or those on dialysis." As per the Zonal Transplant Coordination Committee, currently, there are 14 people on the waiting list for a combined pancreas plus kidney transplant in Mumbai.

14
No. of patients on waiting list for a combined pancreas plus kidney transplant in Mumbai