The Maharashtra government is mulling appointing a nodal officer in the police department to coordinate all clearances for transport of organs harvested from brain-dead patients. He will be responsible for handling Green Corridor cases.
State Director of Health, Dr Satish Pawar, confirmed that the government has mooted a proposal for appointing a designated nodal officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police to coordinate issuing of necessary NOCs, making traffic arrangements and dealing with legal issues. He also said that the government has decided to formulate a comprehensive policy on Green Corridor whereby retrieval and transportation of organs harvested from brain-dead patients will be done within specified time.
Speaking to newspersons later, Dr Pawar said, “The window period to transplant harvested organs is about five to six hours. If the organs are to be transported outside cities like Mumbai, airport management and traffic management has to be dealt with. Presently, airlines charge anywhere between Rs 70,000 to Rs 1 lakh per organ for transportation. The average cost of transportation of organs comes to around Rs 3 lakh. The government is trying to transport more than one organ at one time to reduce costs.”
Meanwhile, minister for public health Dr Deepak Sawant informed that at present, the wait list for cadaver transplants in Maharashtra is around 2,000, followed by demand for liver and then heart. Non-Transplant Organ Retrieval Centres (NTORCs) will be set up in hospitals with Intensive Care Units (ICUs). The NTORCs will have counselors to convince relatives of brain-dead patients to consent to donating the organs of the patient, he said.
Dr Sawant on Wednesday held his first meeting with representatives of government hospitals, private hospitals, police officials, traffic police, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, and medical experts. He directed concerned stakeholders to make recommendations to enable the government draft a comprehensive policy with complete protocol for organ harvesting and Green Corridor.
Dr Sawant said, “In Mumbai, the government could use display signages to inform motorists and pedestrians about the Green Corridor route. Besides this, the government is contemplating having special stickers, special sirens and specially designated lamps for ambulances meant to transport harvested human organs.” He added that the government is trying to tie-up with airlines for air ambulance facilities as well.
Assistant state director of Health, Dr Gauri Rathod, said that the government is contemplating waiving off 20 per cent of the state taxes levied on airlines for air ambulances in case of inter-state transportation.
