Gandhinagar, Aug 12 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday felicitated three government hospitals for securing national recognition for their work in organ donation and transplantation, with the awards being presented to him and the Council of Ministers during the state Cabinet meeting in Gandhinagar.

The three institutions — the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC), Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and New Civil Hospital in Surat — received the awards at the 16th Indian Organ Donation Day ceremony held at the Dr B.R. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on August 3.

The recognitions covered organ transplantation, retrieval of organs from deceased donors and brain stem death management.

IKDRC received the “Excellence in Leading Government Hospital in Organ Transplantation” award; Ahmedabad Civil Hospital was recognised as the “Best Non-Transplant Organ Retrieval Centre (NTORC)”, while New Civil Hospital, Surat received the national “Best Brain Stem Death Team” award.

Minister of State for Health, Praful Pansheriya, presented the awards received by Gujarat’s Health Department to Chief Minister Patel and the Council of Ministers during the Cabinet meeting.

Patel, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi and the entire Council of Ministers appreciated the Health Department’s work and congratulated the teams.

Giving details of the achievements, Pansheriya said IKDRC performed 597 organ transplants during 2025, comprising 502 kidney, 86 liver and nine pancreas transplants. “Of these, 380 patients received free transplantation under the PM-JAY scheme. Thirty-four per cent of patients treated at the institute were from other states, reflecting its reach beyond Gujarat,” he said.

During 2025-26, Ahmedabad Civil Hospital retrieved 171 organs and 34 tissues from 48 deceased donors out of 104 recorded brain stem death cases.

The retrievals allowed organs and tissues to be made available for transplantation and other medical use. The Brain Stem Death Team at New Civil Hospital, Surat, certified 82 brain stem death cases during the same period.

The award recognised the team’s timely identification of brain stem death, counselling of relatives and adherence to scientific procedures.

Pansheriya attributed the state’s performance to coordination between the Health Department, the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) Gujarat and government hospitals, along with the use of advanced technology and the efforts of medical professionals.

He also expressed respect to families who agreed to donate the organs of deceased relatives despite their loss. “Their inspiring decision has given a new lease of life to many people,” he said, adding that giving another person the gift of life after death was among the noblest forms of donation.

The Minister appealed to citizens and doctors across Gujarat to increase awareness about organ donation and help ensure that no viable organ from a brain-dead person goes to waste.

The national recognition comes as Gujarat continues to expand its deceased-donor organ transplantation network.

-IANS

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