Now Reading: India’s organ transplants quadruple to 20,000 in 2025
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India’s organ transplants quadruple to 20,000 in 2025
India recorded nearly 20,000 organ transplants in 2025, up from fewer than 5,000 in 2013, according to a February 2026 PIB release. More than 1,200 families donated organs of loved ones after…
The Story in Brief
India recorded nearly 20,000 organ transplants in 2025, up from fewer than 5,000 in 2013, according to a February 2026 PIB release. More than 1,200 families donated organs of loved ones after death last year. The Times of India reports the journey from referral to surgery involves evaluation at a licensed centre, registration, waitlist management, organ matching, and allocation coordinated through NOTTO and state bodies.
Eligibility depends on overall health, absence of active infections and untreated malignancies, says Dr Goutham Kumar of SPARSH Hospital. The waiting period can range from the same day to several years. Priorities vary by organ: liver allocation uses the MELD score, while heart patients on mechanical support get priority. Living donors, mostly for kidneys, are common.
The Indian Opinion
The celebratory numbers from the government mask a grinding reality for lakhs on waiting lists. Stories focus on surgical triumphs, not the years of dialysis or the families who never get a call. The real test is not how many transplants happen, but how many families say yes to donation at the hardest moment. That number, the conversion rate of brain-dead patients to actual donors, will tell us if the system is truly working.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
