Bhaktapur, June 25

Sahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Centre successfully transplanted liver yesterday. This is the third time, the hospital has transplanted liver successfully.

The liver was transplanted into the body of 43-year-old Badri Khadka, local of Kapan, Kathmandu, after his 39-year-old wife Rusha Khadka donated her liver.

“A nine-member team from Max Hospital of India and 15-member team of Nepali doctors and nurses were involved in the surgery,” shared Dr Pukar Shrestha, executive director at the hospital.

“Nearly 13 liver patients are in queue for liver transplant surgery. But due to lack of trained human resources, we haven’t been able to conduct liver transplant surgery on regular basis,” he said.

Nearly 1,000 people are estimated to have liver failure in the country due to excessive consumption of alcohol.

“Estimated cost for liver transplant surgery is Rs two million, whereas the same surgery costs around Rs 10 million in foreign countries. Thus, it is necessary to produce trained human resources who can conduct such surgeries in the country itself,” he added.