Myanmar patients prefer India for organ transplants
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More Myanmar citizens needing organ transplants choose to go to India for treatment due to restrictions at home, healthcare officials said.
Even though Singapore and Thailand offer similar services, many patients choose to go to India due to its lenient healthcare regulations and disciplines, an official from the Yangon General Hospital (YGH) said.
An official from KC Healthcare said transplant patients faced a lot of problems in Myanmar such as a shortage of organ donors and restrictions on surgical procedures, adding that the demand for kidneys was the highest.
“We refer patients requiring kidney or liver transplants and cancer treatment to India’s Apollo Hospitals,” KC Healthcare’s Dr Kyaw Min said.
He said there were no clear statistics on people seeking organ transplants overseas, but the number was definitely on the rise.
Under Myanmar law, only kidney transplants are allowed and the donor must be someone from within the nuclear family. The government only recently agreed to allow kidney transplants from a donor proven to be brain dead.
“This law was enacted so kidney transplants do not become commercialised in Myanmar. There are very few cases and those who need to undergo surgery face many difficulties,” an official from YGH, who asked not to be named, said.
Myanmar started allowing kidney transplants in 1997 and so far, only 50 or so transplants have been performed. Meanwhile, there have only been two cases of liver transplant, which was co-financed by the government, well-wishers and the patients.
