June 2022

Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in Delhi has performed 100 liver transplants in youngsters from the Philippines, marking a significant milestone. Children ranging in age from 4 months to 15 years who had suffered from various conditions resulting in liver failure and demanding a liver transplant have gotten one.

Amidst COVID posing a number of challenges in the last two years, Apollo made sure that children and their families received end-to-end assistance in terms of aligning travel permissions and ensuring patient safety by arranging special charter flights with a medical team on board to handle any emergencies.

Mr P Shivakumar, Managing Director – Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, asserted: “Apollo Hospitals leads the way in delivering cross-border care for children. Our approach is aligned with Apollo’s overarching objective of providing prompt delivery of healthcare services, notwithstanding myriad constraints. This becomes even more important when it comes to caring for children. We believe there is no greater joy than seeing the smiles of children who have been saved by our timely medical intervention.”

Group Medical Director and Senior Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Apollo Hospitals Group – Dr (Prof) Anupam Sibal, stated: “Apollo Hospitals has been receiving children with liver failure from Philippines for the last five years. Fortunately, we have been able to help many families from different parts of Philippines.

We would like to thank families for their trust as we mark the landmark of 100 liver transplants in babies and children from Philippines. Despite COVID restrictions, we have transplanted 53 children in the last 2 years. The youngest child to be operated on was 4 months. Significantly, babies weighing barely 3.5kgs have also had liver transplants at Apollo Hospitals. Our initiative has been facilitated by the immense support from the Embassies which helped in easing travel formalities for patients. The Apollo Liver Transplant Program, the first successful program in India which was established in 1998 has now performed more than 3950 liver transplants including 458 in children from 20 countries”.

Senior Liver Transplant Surgeon at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Dr. Neerav Goyal, said, “In liver transplant, surgery is performed when patients have a high risk of dying from their disease in the ensuing weeks to months. Since COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon, many of these patients were unlikely to survive the period of the pandemic without liver transplant, and the patients despite several challenges travelled to us. We are happy that we can help them in easing their pain and provided a new lease of life. In 65% of children, the donors were mothers, in 30 % fathers and 5 % other blood relatives.”

About Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals:

The Government of Delhi and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited have partnered to create Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, India’s first JCI recognized hospital. It is the Apollo Hospitals Group’s third super-specialty tertiary care hospital, being opened in July 1996. It spans 15 acres and houses 57 specialties with over 300 experts, over 700 operational beds, 19 operating rooms, 138 intensive care units, a 24-hour pharmacy, NABL recognized laboratories, 24-hour emergency services, and an active air ambulance service. Apollo Hospitals Delhi features the country’s most advanced kidney and liver transplant programs. Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals accomplished India’s first successful pediatric and adult liver transplants. The hospital is on the cutting edge of medical technology and knowledge. It offers a full variety of cutting-edge diagnostic, medicinal, and surgical services to its patients. With the advent of 64 slice CT and 3 Tesla MRI, Novalis Tx, and the integrated PET Suite, the Hospital has brought the most advanced imaging technology to India. Indraprastha Apollo was also the first to introduce the idea of a preventive health check. Over the years, the company has developed a loyal consumer base. For the past few years, The Week poll has continuously named the hospital among India’s top ten hospitals. https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/ is the hospital’s website. @HospitalsApollo on Twitter