ILC FOUNDATION
NTEGRATED LIVER CARE (ILC) FOUNDATION
The Integrated Liver Care (ILC) foundation was formed in 2012 to help advance the cause of liver studies and research in India, as well provide a means of providing financial assistance to economically deprived patients, especially children, who were in need of transplantation. Over the past three years, the foundation has taken major steps to increase the awareness and education of physicians and the general public on transplantation. Members of the foundation have given talks on liver care and organ donation awareness in more than 20 medical colleges. The foundation has conducted three consecutive annual conferences focused on Liver sciences and transplantation called Frontiers in Liver diseases, as well as numerous Continuing Medical Education Programs in partnership with local and national IMA groups. Additionally the ILC foundation has conducted two national policy meetings to bring together experts in the field of organ transplantation to come out with common solutions that are specific to India’s needs.
EDUCATION
There is a large skills gap in specific areas of liver care and transplantation in India, particularly in transplantation nursing and surgical skill sets. The ILC foundation has designed and conducted certificate course in transplantation nursing, which is the first of its kind in India. This course has trained 14 nurses, of whom 4 have been trained for the public sector free of cost.
The foundation, in partnership with the Indian Society of organ transplantation (ISOT) and the MOHAN foundation with experts from Oxford and Birmingham Universities conducted a structured course on teaching the process of Organ retrieval to surgeons in India in a cadaver model. This course was also revolutionary as it was transmitted live to 37 medical colleges in the country, free of cost.
BANGALORE HEPATITIS PROJECT
Eradication of Hepatitis B has been a cherished goal for several liver groups. The ILC foundation devised and conducted the Bangalore Hepatitis project, which was a community based hepatitis B and C testing and Hepatitis B vaccination program. As of now, this program has tested and vaccinated approximately 5000 individuals in Bangalore.
AFFORDABLE TRANSPLANT INITIATIVE
Poverty is often the primary reason for patients choosing to forego transplantation. This is particularly true for children with end stage liver disease.Our initial experiences and challenges in transplanting kids from poor backgrounds helped us realize the importance of economic safety net for these vulnerable children. The ILC foundation created and helped fund an Affordable transplant initiative for children who need transplantation. Today, seven children have been transplanted through this initiative.
