Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday thanked all the doctors and health workers in government and private hospitals across the State, who helped Tamil Nadu receive the award -- for being the best in organ donation in the country -- from the Centre, for the sixth consecutive year.
“Even during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tamil Nadu, special guidelines were framed and 97 organs were harvested from 27 organ donors,” Mr. Palaniswami said in a statement.
So far, a total of 8,245 organs have been received from 1,392 organ donors in Tamil Nadu. The CM also underlined that an insurance cover of up to ₹25 lakh was being provided to the poor in government and private hospitals under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
The government also provides immuno-suppressants free of cost for transplantees. The CM also recalled the successful cadaveric bilateral hand transplantation for a patient in 2018 in State-run Stanley Medical College in Chennai, which was the first-of-its-kind procedure in the country.
Listing out the efforts taken by the State government, Mr. Palaniswami said Tamil Nadu has seen a people's movement emerging towards organ donation.
During the 11th Indian Organ Donation Day on November 27, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey took part in the virtual event. Tamil Nadu Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar and Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan took part in the event through video conference.
