Bangalore :

Chethana (name changed), 10, had a virtual rebirth on Friday when she underwent a bile duct enlargement correction surgery at the newly-launched Liver Clinic here.
The nation’s first government-owned liver clinic offers a glimmer of hope for thousands of chronic liver disorder patients. The north Karnataka girl was among six persons who underwent surgeries at a surgical gastro8enterology workshop. The operations, which were done at the Victoria Hospital premises, were beamed live to the inauguration venue.
The Liver Clinic, run by the department of gastroenterology, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), offers to %conduct liver transplants on poor patients for Rs 5 lakh as against Rs 40 lakh charged by corporate hospitals. The state government has %sanctioned Rs 7.5 crore for the clinic.
As many as 150 patients with various liver disorders have been awaiting transplant and have registered with the Zonal Coordination Committee for Organ Transplants in Karnataka (ZCCK). Thirty other patients have been screened for transplant. The Liver Clinic is likely to conduct transplants in a couple of months.

Launching the clinic, medical education minister Sharan Prakash Patil said: “There are 20,000 patients waiting for liver transplants in India and only 1,000 of them have the access and financial capability to undergo it. Through this initiative, we want to encourage our surgeons to help poor patients. There is need to establish an autonomous gastroenterology institute.”
“We have a highly trained team of transplant surgeons, anaesthetists as well as nurses ,” said Dr Nagesh NS, %transplant surgeon and %clinic chief.

Dr K V Ashok Kumar  , retired head of the department of gastroenterology at BMCRI, and one of the brains behind the clinic, said: “After I retired, I came back to work for Rs 20,000 only to make this dream come true. We believe the poorest patient sho8uld get treated with the best of facilities.”

According to WHO data, there are annually over 2 lakh deaths due to liver disorders in India accounting for 2.31% of total deaths in the country.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / TNN / June 14th, 2014