Thiruvananthapuram | The state government will establish the KIOTT in Kozhikode, with the foundation stone to be laid by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday.
The announcement was made by the CM through his social media accounts.
Vijayan said the Kerala Institute of Organ and Tissue Transplant at Chevayoor will provide advanced organ transplant surgeries that are affordable and accessible to ordinary people.
He noted that nearly 90 per cent of organ transplant surgeries in the country are currently carried out in the private sector, making them unaffordable for common people due to high treatment costs.
The CM said KIOTT, a world-class public-sector facility, will provide treatment at nearly one-third of the cost charged by private hospitals and described it as the first comprehensive organ transplant institute in the public sector in India.
Vijayan said the institute would offer hope and a new lease of life to thousands of vulnerable patients and would emerge as one of the best examples of the Left government's alternative development model aimed at strengthening and modernising the public health system.
He added that the institute is being designed with state-of-the-art facilities comparable to similar centres in the US and China, and that such a large, integrated centre dedicated exclusively to organ transplantation would be only the third of its kind in the world.
Calling it a matter of pride for Kerala, Vijayan said complex organ transplant surgeries-including kidney, liver, heart, lung, and cornea transplants-will be available under one roof at the institute.
The Rs 525-crore project is being implemented with financial assistance from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), with Rs 99 crore earmarked exclusively for advanced medical equipment, he said.
Beyond functioning as a hospital, Vijayan said KIOTT will also serve as an international-standard centre for advanced research in organ transplantation and for training medical professionals.
He said the project was Kerala's strong response to right-wing policies that weaken the public sector and hand over the health sector entirely to the market.
"Healthcare is not a business, but a right of every human being," the chief minister said, adding that KIOTT reflects the government's commitment to fulfilling its promises for building a 'New Kerala'.
Calling for collective efforts, Vijayan said the state would continue to move forward with the strength of people-centric politics to realise the vision of 'Nava Kerala'.
