11 August,2021 07:52 AM IST | Mumbai | Somita Pal
This picture has been used for representational purpose
Skin donation has seen an over 50 per cent dip during the pandemic in Mumbai. The National Burns Centre (NBC) at Airoli, the country's premier institute of its kind, is in dire need of the organ used for grafting in burn injury treatment.
As per NBC data, the centre received 174 skin donations between April 2019 and March 2020. The figures fell to 69 between April 2020 and March 2021. "From April 2021 till date, we have had just 46 skin donations," said Dr Sunil Keswani, medical director, NBC.
He said that since the onset of the pandemic the centre has been forced to turn away patients. "As the nodal centre, we get requests from across the country. Recently we had to turn away a patient from St John's Hospital in Bangalore. They needed a 2,500 sq cm allograft for a 10 year-old who had suffered 40 per cent burns," said Dr Keswani.
He said before the pandemic, the average skin donation a month was 15-20. "We are hopeful that things will improve from now on as the average skin donation of the past few months has been around 10," said Dr Keswani.
He explained that the donated skin is a key treatment modality when it comes to the care of severe burns patients, as well as road accident victims with major disfigurement. "Without a skin graft, the risk of infection is high, the healing may be delayed or the wounds will not heal at all," said Dr Keswani.
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"There are several factors including misconceptions and lack of awareness that has led to low donations in Mumbai," he said.
India has 13 skin banks, of which three are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) - NBC Airoli, Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion and Masina Hospital.
He said they are now taking the help of organ transplant coordinators to encourage skin donation. "We have also formulated safety protocols to ensure there is no danger of COVID-19 transmission," said Dr Keswani.
