Paired kidney exchange first time in Nepal

Kathmandu, August 1

The first Paired Exchange of kidneys between two families has taken place in Nepal.

The transplant became possible with mutual understanding between the Niraula and Shrestha families.

Khem Raj Niraula, 49, of Phulavari, Taplejung and Bishnu Babu Shrestha, 40, of Manakamana, Gorkha received a kidney at the Human Organ Transplant Centre in Bhaktapur. Both families donated a kidney to a recipient from the other family.

According to Dr Pukar Chandra Shrestha, executive director of Human Organ Transplant Centre in Bhaktapur, Niraula received a kidney from Shrestha’s elder sister Yee Maya Thapa, 52, and Shrestha received a kidney from Niraula’s wife Matrika Devi Chapagain.

“This is the first such kidney transplant in Nepal. It became possible after the amendment of the Organ Transplant Act 1998 in 2015,” said Dr Shrestha. “Such transplants were regarded as illegal in Nepal, which compelled many patients to travel to the India for treatment,” he added.

The constitution of Nepal has revised the law related to organ transplant in which a family member can donate a kidney to husband, wife, siblings, maternal relatives, in-laws, relatives, step father, mother, grandparents or other family members.

If the kidney doesn’t match, one can exchange a kidney with other families through mutual understanding. “This is done in western countries while in Nepal this is the first time such transplant has taken place,” Dr Shrestha informed.

“The Act has made it very easy for us to transplant kidney,” said Khem Raj Niraula, a patient. “If the law had not been in place, we would have to suffer a lot. I was even ready to go to India for treatment,” he added.

Niraula and his wife are teachers. They had been waiting for a matching donor for the transplant. Matrika was ready to give her kidney to her husband but their blood group did not match.

The Shresthas are a farming family. Before coming to the Human Organ Transplant Centre in Bhaktapur, they had visited different medical hospitals throughout the country for medical tests.

According to the doctor, Niraula’s blood group was A Positive (A+) while his wife’s group was B Positive (B+).

Another Patient Bishnu Babu Shrestha had been waiting for his turn to transplant a kidney, but he faced the same problem. His sister’s blood group happened to be A+ while his was B+.

After the hospital informed the families about paired exchange, they were ready for the transplant which was done at once. Now the patients are going to be discharged today.

The patient was provided Rs 200,000 by the government as mentioned in the law.

According to law, every kidney patient who is a Nepali Citizen will be provided Rs 200,000 for treatment by the government of Nepal. “Even though the fund is not sufficient, we are satisfied with the government help.

But we faced a different problem due to lack of awareness,” he said.

“Brain Death Donor Transplant still remains to be practiced,” said Dr Shrestha. “We are also planning to transplant a kidney from the dead body of a person, which is known as Brain Death Donor Transplant.”