PESHAWAR: The Medical Transplant Regulatory Authority is yet to receive funds despite its establishment in 2016 by the government to regulate human organ transplantation in the province, according to sources.

The MTRA requires Rs20 million to establish its regional offices with its headquarters in Peshawar to promote organ transplantation as well as prevent the illegal procedures and save the lives of people but there is no response from the government to release the amount and enable the authority to operate to a desired level.

The authority has sent requests to the government to release the funds and enable it to hire the services of about 100 people. Lack of funds has been hampering its plan to expand services and maintain its operations at the provincial level.

MTRA needs Rs20 million to establish regional offices in different districts

An official of health department said that MTRA was established by former health secretary Abid Majeed to enforce Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Transplantation Regulatory Authority Act, 2014.

Despite lack of funds, the authority has been working hard to award registration to the hospitals for transplant surgeries after carrying out evaluation exercise to check the infrastructure and human resources of the respective health facility.

Presently housed in a two-room office at Institute of Kidney Disease (IKD) Hayatabad, it has registered Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical complex and Rehman Medical Institute (RMI) for corneal transplants that has befitted more than 400 people with damaged eyes during the last two years.

The vision of the most of the poor people, who had got damaged their corneas either due to trauma, pressure cookers blast and other incidents and were literally blind, were restored.

The patients were given free cornea sent by the Pakistani doctors from the US and the local ophthalmologists performed the procedures free of cost.

Similarly, MTRA has accorded approval for kidney transplants to IKD, RMI and North West General Hospital where patients with damaged kidneys are getting transplants. Prior to establishment of MTRA, the patients, who could afford, would travel to Karachi and Islamabad for such procedures.

The RMI has also been recognised for liver transplant. Four other hospitals are likely to be recognised for corneal transplants but the authority is finding it hard to speed up work owing to non-availability of funds.

The Combined Military Hospital Peshawar has also applied to be recognised for kidney transplant. Sources said that MTRA’s plan to establish regional offices in Malakand, Hazara and Dera Ismail Khan was yet to see light of the day and as a result the regional hospitals were not accorded approval.

The Peshawar-based hospitals have the capacity to start transplantations but the authority needs to be staffed and funded adequately to be able to provide those facilities with the desired guidance regarding fulfillment of the requirements of the infrastructure.

There is potential for developing facilities for bone marrow transplantation to help the children with thalassaemia and other blood related ailments. But the authority is still awaiting the funds.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2019