The oldest and the largest hospital in the country, Bir Hospital has successfully carried out a kidney transplant operation. This was the second attempt made in the hospital. Following the success of the operation, Bir has become the second hospital in the country to successfully transplant kidney.
Organising a press meet in the capital on Wednesday, Bir Hospital officials said that a team of surgeons comprising of Dr. Sandip Gulariya of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sharma, Dr. Damodhar Pokharel, Dr. Bisworaj Joshi, Dr. Pukar Chandra Shrestha and Dr. Paras Mani Shrestha had transplanted two kidneys in Bir Hospital on December 12. The team had carried out kidney transplants on Sujit Bhattrai from Jhamsikhel and Dawa Tamang from Okhaldhunga. Maha Laxmi Bhattrai (mother of sujit Bhattarai) and
Kale Tamang ( elder brother of Dawa Tamang) had donated their kidneys to the receipients. Bir Hospital had earlier in November 2004 made the first attempt to transplant a kidney on Pradip Chaudhari but it failed.
"It is our second attempt after a four- year gap, and we succeeded. Now, we are determined to continue such operations in the days to come," said Surgeon Dr. Damodhar Pokharel, head of Surgery Department at Bir. "Even the Ministry of
Health (MoH) has given us assurances of cooperation for its continuation."
Following the government's permission to carry out kidney transplants in the
country given on August 4 this year, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital
(TUTH), Maharajgunj, had done a transplant operation successfully within a week. TUTH has carried out 15 kidney transplants to date. TUTH charges of Rs.
350,000 for a kidney transplant, compared with over Rs. 1 million that needs to be spent if one goes to India for a similar surgery. However,it costs only Rs. 250,000 at Bir Hospital, according to Dr. Pokharel.
According to MoH, there are over 600 people in Nepal who have undergone kidney transplant operations so far by going to India and other countries.
[source: TKP]
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