"Heart transplant in India: Favourable for foreigners or few takers here? "

A recent page-one headline in The Hindu read: ‘In Chennai, the hearts beat for foreigners’. Another headline announced that in Tamil Nadu, three of four donated hearts go to foreigners, provoking emotive discussions on TV. (Only the fine print in the articles explained that it was actually one out of six). These claims were moderated by the newspaper a little later, but readers probably only remember the original headlines.

Of organs that are usually donated, kidneys and livers do not go to foreigners, but some hearts and lungs do – because there are not enough Indian takers. In a country of 1.3 billion, it is true that there are no suitable Indians needing a heart transplant and it is not ludicrous to claim.

Ask an average heart failure patient to queue for a donated heart and the only response will be of pointing to their pocket. But aren’t there – of the 50,000 or ten lakh who need heart transplants in India – at least a few hundreds who can afford a surgery costing about Rs 2 million? If there are, why aren’t they listed? And are there not facilities and schemes to help those that cannot mobilise the required amount?  Read More

Business Standard