The Kerala government has appointed HLL Infra Tech Services Ltd. (HITES), a subsidiary of the public sector undertaking HLL Lifecare Ltd., as the project management consultant for the proposed organ transplant institute in Kozhikode.
According to reliable sources, the company is now preparing a master plan for the institute campus. A global tender will soon be called to choose an architectural consultant to finalise the design elements of buildings in line with international standards. Till the new buildings are constructed, the institute is likely to function from the new block of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, from 2024.
Around 20 acres of land near the Government Hospital for Dermatology at Chevayur in Kozhikode city have been reportedly identified for the project. There will be over 100 doctors, close to 800 nursing staff, apart from other paramedical and technical staff at the institute.
The State Cabinet had in November last year given final approval to a proposal submitted by Biju Pottakkat, Professor of Surgical Gastroenterology at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, for setting up the institute. The Cabinet also decided to appoint Dr. Pottakkat as special officer in charge of the project to coordinate its implementation. He had submitted a ₹500-crore proposal in June last year envisaging a separate institute for organ transplantation, with comprehensive facilities for the management and follow-up of patients with end-stage organ failure and to enable transplant surgeries.
The institute was proposed against the backdrop of the high number of liver and kidney patients in the State, a result of the high prevalence of diabetes and hypertension. Though a large number of these people need organ transplantation, public health facilities offering the service are very few. In private hospitals, kidney transplant costs between ₹6 lakh and ₹8 lakh and the expense for liver transplant is between ₹25 lakh and ₹30 lakh. A majority of the patients, who are from middle class or poor families, cannot afford this. The institute is likely to have an administrative structure similar to that of the Regional Cancer Centre in the State capital, with the Chief Minister as chairman, the Health Minister as vice chairman, and various department officials as governing council members.
