MANGALDAI, Jan 16 - Hyderabad- based eminent nephro-surgeon Padma Shri Dr Sarbeswar Saharia, who has nearly 4,000 successful kidney transplant cases under his belt, is very much concerned over the growing cases of deaths due to organ failures in the nation including Assam and the North-east India.
Talking to The Assam Tribune on Sunday afternoon during a visit to his native town Mangaldai for Bhogali Bihu festival, Dr Saharia underlined how serious the present scenario of death is due to organ failures and said, �About two to three lakh patients die every year in India due to terminal failure of vital organs including kidney, liver and heart. Every month, about three patients from Assam with complaints of kidney failure visit hospitals in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad etc., for super-speciality treatment, which is not available in the State. In most of such cases, there is no other medical treatment except regular dialysis or organ transplantation.�
�Unfortunately, majority of such patients do not survive for lack of necessary organs from voluntary donors,� he lamented. At this juncture, when many young lives have been lost due to the lack of requisite organs from donors, the eminent physician stressed the importance of cadaver organ donors. He pointed out that a cadaver donor or a patient, who either dies in a hospital or sustains severe head injuries without the chance of any recovery, may turn out to be a life saviour of a dying patient suffering from terminal organ failure.
He also highlighted the data of nearly 1,30,000 cases of death per year in the nation�s National Highways and how a wise decision of the family of one such donor can save as many as seven lives at a time.
However, it can made possible if people become aware of this cadaver organ donation. �The current picture of public awareness is very poor in our nation. A recent statistics showed that in comparison to Sweden, which recorded the highest donors in the world with an average of 30 donors against one million population, in India the same average figure stands less than one donor per million. The scenario of our State is, therefore, self explanatory,� Dr Saharia maintained.
It is the high time that we all come forward to join hands for mass public awareness in Assam . During the interaction, he also announced about his plan to carry out a State-wise public awareness drive under the banner of a non government organisation, �North East Care and Foundation� and with like-minded other local non-govt organisations. This journey is going to be started within a short span of time from his native town Mangaldai, Dr Saharia added.