On May 28, 2019, MOHAN Foundation attended the National Conclave on Renal Care & Transplant- Kidney for Life, organized by The Sunday Guardian and NewsX, at India International Centre, New Delhi.
Kidney For Life was an initiative to raise awareness on the importance of kidneys for overall health and to reduce the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems. The event witnessed some of the key sessions, where the experts exchanged ideas and thoughts, which touched upon various issues related to nephrology, organ donation and promoting good renal health.
The conclave was attended by India’s top Nephrologists, Urologists, Kidney transplant experts, NGOs, Kidney forums, policy makers, delegates from Embassies & High Commissions; UN agencies, and members from centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
At the conclave, Ms. Pallavi Kumar participated in a closed room session to discuss policy matters pertaining to renal transplant and organ donation. Dr. S. Rajesh, Director Health, NITI Aayog and Dr. Promila Gupta, Principal Consultant, DGHS presided over the session. Dr. Vijay Kher (Chairman Nephrology, Medanta the Medicity) moderated the session.
Also present were Dr. Megha Pravin Khobragade (Joint Director, NOTTO), Dr. Dinesh Khullar (Chairman of Nephrology & Renal Transplant Medicine at Max Healthcare Institute Limited), Dr. Pranaw K. Jha (Senior Consultant, Nephrology, Kidney and Urology Institute, Medanta – The Medicity), Dr.Sanjeev Bagai (CMD, Nephron Clinic), Prof (Dr.) Aarti Vij (Professor Hospital Administration Cardio Thoracic & Neuro Sciences Centre & Faculty Incharge-ORBO AIIMS),Dr. R. V. Asokan (Secretary General, Indian Medical Association), Dr. Amit Kumar Devra (Associate Director, Urology & Renal Transplant, Jaypee Hospital) and Dr. Reetesh Sharma (Director and Head Nephrology and Kidney Transplant Medicine, AIMS).
Issues related to creating a robust national registry were discussed and the problems that NOTTO was experiencing in getting hospitals across the country to share their database into the national registry. It was felt that stricter steps need to be taken and that this message needs to go out as a directive and not a suggestion to all the SOTTOs and should have a direct implication to the renewal of transplant licenses of hospitals. Also discussed were various matters related to insurance of transplant and dialysis patients and the problems faced by them with insurance policies. It was felt that some advocacy work needs to be done with The Insurance Regulatory Enforcement Agency.
Giving Incentives to donor families was also debated. NOTTO shared that this was under discussion within the Ministry but received a lot of flak from international bodies. It was agreed by all present that while monetary incentives should absolutely not be considered, but other incentives related to social security such as educational allowances, insurance etc. need to be considered. Creation of centralized brain death committees for NTORCs and smaller nursing homes was suggested to encourage more brain death identification and certification. Also, a stronger brain death audit in hospitals was suggested by those present.
Ms. Kumar also took part in a panel discussion on organ donation. The other panelists were Dr. Harsha Jauhari and Dr. Anil Goyal (IMA). The panel discussed sharing of organs (organ allocation policy), medico-legal cases, brain-death certification & maintenance and swap donation.
Overall, the conclave was informative wherein multi-sectoral policies for an enabling environment to reduce the burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) was discussed. It also provided a forum to share the best practices from within the region and around the world.
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