Gleneagles Global Health City Performs Highest Number of Liver Transplants under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme in the State of Tamil Nadu

• The event was graced by Dr C Vijaya Baskar, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Chennai, August 21^st 2019: Gleneagles Global Health City, Chennai successfully completed 32 liver transplants, since September 2018 under the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme. It is the only hospital in the state to have completed the highest number of transplants in the State of Tamil Nadu under this scheme. An event was organized today at the hospital to felicitate transplant patients who underwent successful transplantation under the Government scheme.

(L to R) Dr.Gandhimathi, TRANTAN; Dr C Vijaya Baskar, Hon’ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu; Dr K Ravindranath, Founder and Chairman of Gleneagles Global Hospitals; Dr Joy Varghese, Director- Hepatology & Transplant Hepatology, Gleneagles Global Health City; Dr Vivek Vij, Director- HPB & Liver Transplant, Gleneagles Global Health City

25 patients who came along with their families to express their gratitude to the Tamil Nadu government for initiating such scheme. The patients who were felicitated received organs from both living and cadaver donors which gave a new lease of life to them.

According to the WHO report, liver disease is the most common cause of death in India as it affects every 1 in 5 Indians. Liver is an organ in our body used to digest food and remove the toxic substance from the body. Liver disease can be caused due to various reasons such as virus (Hep A, B and C), consuming of alcohol, obesity, inherited genetic disease etc which can further lead to liver damage or liver failure. To treat such acute liver failure the only option is Liver transplant.

The Chief Ministers Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme helped the patients who were from the low socioeconomic background and could not have afforded a liver transplant. In the count of 32 liver transplants, 15 were children and the youngest of them was a 7 month old infant who underwent a successful liver transplants under the scheme.

Dr K Ravindranath, Founder and Chairman of Gleneagles Global Hospitals said, “I applaud the Government of Tamil Nadu for nurturing such a novel scheme which is benefiting the underprivileged. Our liver transplant program is one of the oldest and the most active in India. Since the day we started, we have performed liver transplants for infants, children and adults, focusing on new surgical techniques and quality patient care.”

 

(L to R) Dr.Gandhimathi, TRANTAN; Dr C Vijaya Baskar, Hon’ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu; Dr K Ravindranath, Founder and Chairman of Gleneagles Global Hospitals; Dr Joy Varghese, Director- Hepatology & Transplant Hepatology, Gleneagles Global Health City; Dr Vivek Vij, Director- HPB & Liver Transplant, Gleneagles Global Health City

“I would like to thank my entire team of doctors for your experience and skill which is primary for the outstanding outcomes and for the patient survival rates that rank higher than international standards,” added Dr K Ravindranath.

Dr K Ravindranath stated, “Recently, Gleneagles Global Health City received awards by the Honourable Minister for Health, Government of Tamil Nadu for its excellent performance in the deceased Donor programme in the state during 2018-19 by Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN).”

Dr Vivek Vij, Director- HPB & Liver Transplant, Gleneagles Global Health City, said “The transplant techniques have been improved to provide outcomes at par or better than international standards. We have been pioneering safe liver transplants in the country for more than a decade.”

Dr Joy Varghese, Director- Hepatology & Transplant Hepatology, Gleneagles Global Health City in his speech said “We thank the Tamil Nadu government for giving us an opportunity to extend advanced treatments including liver transplants to patients from low socioeconomic status from all over Tamil Nadu. It is gratifying to see these patients doing so well after the transplant.”

Dr Selvakumar, Head Of Department, Liver Intensive Care Unit mentioned “ Out of the 32 patients, 5 of them had acute liver failure and were on ventilator before the surgery and all of them did well after the transplant with intensive multidisciplinary care from admission to discharge.”