Mumbai, Aug. 15 -- After a two-year wait, the state directorate of health services has allowed the Parel-based Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for children to perform paediatric heart transplants. The hospital currently already has a kidney and liver transplant programme, in addition to which they will be applying for additional transplant licenses for the pancreas, intestines and lungs, making it a multiple pediatric transplant centre. In 2023, the hospital had sent out an application seeking official permission to conduct heart transplants, an extremely expensive procedure. This week, after all the systems and programmes had been arranged, the license given to them in September 2024 was finalised and put into effect. The CEO of the hospital, Minnie Bodhanwala, said that the growing need for heart transplants among children had motivated the hospital to apply for the license. She highlighted the hospital's focus on treating children with congenital heart disease (CHD), where heart defects such as under-developped blood vessels are present right from a child's birth. Bodhanwala said, "This will expand our ability to serve children with complex, life-threatening conditions. It restores normal growth, improves nutrition, and allows them to enjoy a childhood free from the constant burden of illness." She added that heart transplants could free children from long-term dialysis, oxygen dependence, nutritional support, and give them a chance to participate in sports and other hobbies. While heart transplants are essential for children with severe heart diseases, they can be expensive, up to Rs.25 lakh in private hospitals. Wadia hospital has designed its programme to make this transplant more affordable. "These services will be provided at affordable costs so that financial barriers never stand in the way of a child's second chance at life," said Bodhanwala. State health minister Prakash Abitkar said, "We are making efforts to increase the budget for organ transplantation under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana. It is necessary to create awareness among citizens about organ donation and to remove the fear they have regarding it."...