Proactive Senior Citizens’ Forum puts forth multiple suggestions for donation of dead bodies for medical education & organ transplant

way2barak, Sept.8: Proactive Senior Citizens’ Forum, Silchar wrote a memorandum to the Commissioner of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Assam. On 6 September, a delegation of the Forum submitted the memorandum to Dr Babul Bezbaruah, Principal of Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH) for onward transmission to the Commissioner. The members of Human Science Forum, Silchar also accompanied the Proactive Senior Citizens’ Forum during the submission of the memorandum. The prime issue raised by the Forum in their memorandum was that of donation of mortal bodies to be used posthumously for medical education and organ transplants.

They raised a number of issues in connection with donation of bodies:

1. Timely collection of the donated dead bodies and extraction of transplantable body organs by adequately trained medical persons within the scheduled time limit as per medial guidelines and ethics.

2 Installation of modern ‘Medical Cold Storage’ for keeping the donated bodies brought to the hospital at night or at any inconvenient moment of the hospital authority, so as to ensure that the bodies arrived do not get decomposed for any kind of negligence.

3. Application of improvised technologies for surgical removal of eve tissue/ cornea soon after the  death of the donor for preservation or immediate transplantation.

4. Developing a well-equipped Corneal Research Centre with free and adequate transplant Facility. at  SMCH.

5. Establishing a ‘Call Centre’ for twenty four hours for non-stop or uninterrupted connectivity at the Dept. of Anatomy. Family of the deceased donor and office bearers of Human Science Forum and similar organisation, if any.

6. Making the facility of ‘Green Corridor’ for the fastest movement of the donated organs in times of  emergency.

7 Accelerating appointments of  well trained, skilled and specialized doctors, technicians and other helping hands and building required for infrastructure to transplant organs like eye, liver, kidney, skin, bone marrow etc. at SMCH.

8. Developing appropriate infrastructure at SMCH to facilitate liver transplantation, kidney transplantation, skin grafting, tissue grafting and bone marrow transplantation and other anatomy related studies and research works.

9. Necessary arrangements for the Pathological Autospy of the donated body after death.

10. Developing appropriate infrastructure at SMCH to facilitate cardio- vascular surgery, paediatric surgery and glandular surgery.

11. Deputing/ sending of interested teachers to advanced centres where organ transplantations are done in order to acquire skills and come back to SMCH to serve ailing patients.

12. Upgrading maintenance of Anatomy Lab for the students practical study of human skeleton, body structure and other related subjects.

13. Inviting ‘super- specialists in organ transplantation’ as visiting faculty to SMCH at the cost of the Govt of Assam. Adequate fund may be sanctioned and placed under the disposal of the Principal of SMCH in advance.

14. Starting/ improving essential departments like Nephrology, Urology, Neurology, Paediatric, Orthpaedics, Cardiology, Neuro-surgery, Pulmonary surgery, Haematology, Speech & Hesring, Geriatrics, Clinal Psychology and Nuclear Medicine etc.

Later on, Prof. Dilip Kr. Dey, General Secretary, Proactive Senior Citizens’ Forum, Silchar informed that the Principal of SMCH, Dr Babul Bezbaruah highly appreciated the issues raised by the members of the Forum and assured help in getting the demands resolved.