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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Oct. 28

THE Kerala branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged the State Government to create an enabling environment for encouraging kidney donation and promoting transplantation from cadavers as well as from clinically dead patients.

It has also demanded that the Government make necessary amendments in the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 to give more powers and financial assistance to committees set up under the Act to prevent illegal money transactions from taking place.All `unrelated' transplantations must be stopped herewith, it added.

These recommendations have been made in the report prepared by the Ethics Committee of the IMA after a detailed inquiry was held into allegations of existence of a renal transplantation racket in three hospitals in Kozhikode district.The report, publicised by the Ethics Committee Chairman, Dr M. Bhaskaran, found that illegal money transactions did take place between donors and the relatives of some recipients.

The Ethics Committee has suggested that doctors and hospital authorities be given more powers to prevent interference by intermediaries and check money transactions in transplantation cases.

The three-member Ethics Committee, however, gave a clean chit to doctors and the managements of the hospitals, stating that there was no evidence to show that they had directly or indirectly influenced the kidney donors into parting away with their organs.

The inquiry found that the Authorisation Committee set up under the provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 had failed to check the illegal money transactions between donors and recipients.

These transactions had taken place without the knowledge of the hospital managements or doctors. All hospitals had adhered to the various provisions of the Act.

The inquiry also found that donors from Methotti village in Idukki district had themselves approached intermediaries for donating kidneys.Several tribals from the village had got into the act as a means to clear off their debts.

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