MANILA, Philippines — The Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals based in the Indian capital of New Delhi has celebrated reaching the landmark of performing a century of liver transplants on children from the Philippines, the youngest of them being four months old.
Apollo has been helping Filipino children get liver transplants for five years now, mostly with the help of families nationwide as the procedure could cost up to P5 million exclusive of maintenance fees and medications.
While the COVID-19 pandemic became a challenge for Apollo, the hospital group made certain that the children were given the required assistance as well as allowed travel permissions in order for procedures to be conducted.
In the last two years alone, in the middle of the pandemic, 53 children were transplanted. The lightest of these was an infant weighing 3.5 kilograms.
Apollo's Senior Pediatric Gastroenterologist Dr. Anupam Sibal shared at a special event held in Hilton Manila celebrating the landmark that 65% of liver transplants came from the children's mothers, 30% from the fathers, while the remaining 5% were from other relatives, friends, or outside donors.
Related: Affordable liver transplant for children now available
"We would be happy if no one will ever need [to get] a transplant, but this is the reality," Sibal admitted.
Sibal said these transplanted children can now look forward to a brighter future, citing an example that one of Apollo's first patients in India is now a practicing doctor.
The Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran compared the landmark to the significance of a century in cricket, one of the most popular sports in India.
"We re all partners in a noble journey... India and the Philippines are deeply committed to have a relationship that benefits our people," said Kumaran, expouding on the notion that the relationship between the two nations is a people-driven partnership.
Several of the transplanted children were present at the event where they participated in mini-modelling segment alongside their parents while some performed Nikki Gil's "Glowing Inside."
RELATED: Coming soon: More affordable transplants in Philippines