Panaji

With Goa government failing to appoint a state-level committee to transplant the organs, the donors have started pledging that in case of them being brain dead and to facilitate the organ retrieval, they should be taken to the other states to do it.
Goa government is yet to appoint State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) in absence of which the transplants after Organ Donation by Donors after Brain death are unlikely to happen.
This is primarily due to the lack of a regulated coordination and sharing mechanism which is the responsibility of SOTTO, as the retrieved organs become the property of the state to be allocated by established sharing criteria and regulated recipient list in the State.
Indian Medical Association (IMA) Goa State which has taken lead in making people aware about the organ donation claims that the donors have started expressing wish to cross over to the other State to harvest the organ, in case they are brain dead.
“As for me, I have made my wish transparent and clear to my dear ones and now reiterate it in front of you all. In case God is kind enough to choose me as a donor, wherein I can save lives of needy by donating my organs, and if SOTTO is not yet formed, I declare that even if SOTTO Goa is not formed I want my organs to be retrieved and transplanted to any needy human being through Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) but definitely not burnt and wasted away,” IMA Goa unit president Medha Salkar said during a function recently in presence of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Salkar appealed the chief minister to implement the SOTTO at the earliest.
She said that “merely pledging your organs does not make you a donor for sure.”
“You have to be lucky. In fact extremely lucky, to be the chosen by Him (God) to be one to save the life of so many others because you should have that type of death to fulfil the criteria of brain death,” she added.
The neighbouring state is doing very good work, which has been recognized with the NOTTO award going to Maharashtra as the best-performing state in 2016.
“In the unfortunate event of the Brain Death of any of the 300 donors including my better half who have pledged their organs at the IMA Goa Website and if the family is keen, ROTTO at KEM Hospital Mumbai will help in retrieving organs and allocating the same in hospitals at Mumbai,” said Shekhar Salkar, former president of IMA Goa unit, who is also husband of Dr Medha Salkar.
“Alas, this will not help save Goan lives but will help Humanity elsewhere. As far as I am concerned, will definitely fulfil wish of my wife by shifting her to Mumbai under the guidance of ROTTO and retrieve her organs which can be then used as per the wait list of ROTTO situated in KEM hospital Mumbai,” he added.
IMA has taken up campaign towards awareness on organ transplant during last ten months.
IMA GOA Organ Donation cell coordinator Dr Amol Mahaldar said “the beauty of the Deceased Donor program is the ability to save lives by bringing out the best in humankind, Altruism by the Donor and Family, Excellent teamwork by the participating hospitals and the overarching regulatory role of Government (SOTTO) to maintain transparency and Social justice.”
Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar during a recent conference of medical professionals had announced that SOTTO Goa will be operational within one month, hundreds of Organ failure patients in Goa are waiting with bated breath for a fresh lease of life”
State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had recently claimed that he will not allow any private hospital to conduct organ transplant till the facility is set up at state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital.