Summary:
PANAJI: The state government on Thursday informed the high court of Bombay at Goa that it has identified and allocated space for a cross-matching laboratory for organ transplants and that it will be completed within six months.Medical superintendent GMC Dr S M Bandekar has been appointed as the nodal officer for the state organ and tissue transplant organisation (Sotto).The lab will be set up at the old anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centre in the foyer block, on the first floor. Civil work for the structural modification requirements of the laboratory is being undertaken by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC), the government informed the high court on Thursday.The high court in December had directed the state and central government to take necessary steps to make the Sotto expeditiously functional within a period of four months and the cross-matching lab functional within six months.The secretary of health informed the high court that the memorandum of understanding regarding the establishment of Sotto had been sent to the ministry of health and family welfare, government of India, in July last year.After a follow up, the ministry in November stated that the proposal for setting up Sotto needed to be examined and asked the state government to send a detailed proposal.The government told the court that 18% of the construction work of the super-speciality block, which will have facilities for organ transplantation, has been completed.The matter was heard on Thursday by the division bench of the Chief Justice of the Bombay high court Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Mahesh Sonak.Advocate Wilbur Menezes representing the Mango Foundation filed a public interest litigation for the setting up of Sotto and for transparent waiting lists for organs so that recipients don’t lose out on opportunities of life saving organ and tissue transplantation to recipients from other states..