First liver transplant at BSMMU: PM Hasina congratulates doctors, patient

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has congratulated the doctors and patient on the first successful liver transplantation at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University or BSMMU.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 July 2019, 08:13 AM
Updated : 18 July 2019, 08:13 AM

Vice-Chancellor Professor Kanak Kanti Barua said this at a press briefing while discharging the patient, 20-year-old Siratul Islam Shuvo along with his donor mother Rokshana Begum.

Both the patient and the donor have recovered well, said Prof Md Zulfiqur Rahman Khan, chairman of the Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Liver Transplantation Surgery, who led the team of doctors.

They will have to come for a follow-up,  he said.

The transplant was performed on June 24 with the help of Indian specialists. It was free of cost as part of the BSMMU's initiative to start full-fledged liver transplantation in Bangladesh.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque had termed the liver transplantation a “milestone” in Bangladesh's health sector.

An Indian team led by liver transplant surgeon Dr P Balachandra Menon helped them in this exhaustive 18-hour surgery.

An adult can donate a portion of their liver to a child or another adult as liver is the only organ that can regenerate itself.

The BIRDEM Hospital was the first facility in Bangladesh that conducted liver transplantation in 2010. But they could not continue after a few years.

The BSMMU VC said they will make it sustainable at the university. "We have trained doctors. We are making necessary funds available.”

He said the prime minister followed the case and congratulated the doctors in a message when she heard it was successful.

There is no official figure on how many people need liver transplant in Bangladesh. But Barua had earlier said about 500 patients take liver transplant treatment from abroad every year.