The Gauhati Medical College Hospital

June 27: The Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), the leading government healthcare centre of the region, will finally start conducting two new modern surgical procedures — phaco and laparoscopic operations — from August 15. This year’s Independence Day will also mark the first kidney transplant operation at the hospital

Dr M.M. Deka, principal-cum-chief superintendent of GMCH, said the starting of phaco, a surgery to remove cataract, and laparoscopy, to remove gall bladder and kidney stones, would come as a great boon for the patients belonging to poor and middle class families. Both operations will be conducted free of cost for patients below the poverty line.

Phaco surgery in the city is conducted only at Sankardev Nethralaya Hospital at present. Deka said the GMCH would charge a nominal fee for the phaco operation. Patients can leave the hospital after an hour or two of having their cataracts removed by phaco.

The most challenging task facing the GMCH on August 15, however, will be a kidney transplant. Eminent kidney expert from Hyderabad Dr. S. Saharia recently visited the hospital and expressed satisfaction over the progress in setting up infrastructure for the complicated surgery.

He will join doctors from the nephrology and urology departments of the hospital during the pre and post-operative treatment of patients. A team of doctors from GMCH will soon leave for Hyderabad to gather experience under Saharia.

The GMCH Society has already invited tenders for purchasing hi-tech machinery to start phaco and laparosopic operations. All the equipment will be installed by the end of July.

In recent years, there has been an alarming increase in the number of cataract patients in the Northeast, and especially in the city.

According to a health department estimate, three out of every 10 people in the age group of 40 to 55 years suffer develop cataract. Deka said the move to start the two surgeries initiated after chief minister Tarun Gogoi announced the immediate release of Rs 1 crore from untied fund for development of the hospital.

“Conducting all the three new surgeries on the same date will be a landmark event for the GMCH. More importantly, we have decided to conduct the first five kidney transplants totally free of cost. Not a single paisa will be charged from the first five patients,” Deka said.

The charge for kidney transplants has been fixed at Rs 1.5 lakh, which according to the GMCH, is a third less than in other metros. While the Christian Hospital, Vellore charges Rs 3.5 lakh for the operation, at the Apollo Hospitals in Delhi and Mumbai have to shell out more than Rs 4 lakh.

The North Eastern Council has released nearly Rs 2 crore as part of modernisation of the nephrology and urology departments to conduct kidney transplants. A state-of-the-art post-operative care centre is being set up on the third floor of the hospital building. The GMCH has already tied up with a private hospital in Calcutta to match tissues of the patients and donors before the operations.