Kin donates 10-yr-old's body for medical research to SSKM Hosp
Kolkata: Family members of a 10-year-old girl who died after prolonged suffering from brain stem glioma donated her body to SSKM Hospital for medical research.
A student of class III from Howrah's Kadamtala, Sritama Mondal had been suffering from a rare brain disease for the past 6 years.
Her parents took her to other states for treatment but she could not be cured. On last Sunday, she died at a private hospital in Howrah.
Her parents decided to hand over the dead body to the anatomy department of the SSKM Hospital for medical research. Parents said that they would not be able to cremate her body and hence preferred to donate it so that it can be used for medical purposes.
The number of body donations has increased in the state. The process was however affected in the past two years due to Covid. Constant awareness campaigns conducted by the state Health department at both the government-run and private hospitals have started yielding results as the state has seen a spur in organ transplants as well.
Like other states, the whole process is done through a register maintained by the Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) holding names of potential receivers who urgently require organs.
"The whole concept of organ donation and transplantation is still in its infancy. Earlier, no organ transplant had taken place in the state. Due to constant efforts put by various government machinery, we have been able to conduct organ transplants at a regular interval in the state. Bengal has achieved significant success so far in the past few years. More awareness programmes should be conducted so that relatives of a brain dead patient come forward and donate organs," a senior official of the Health department said.
It may be mentioned that transplant of an organ is heavily dependent on the initiative of the individuals rather than a comprehensive system. Health department officials are hopeful that the number of transplants in the state will go up in the future.
