26th June 2025 (28 Topics)

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Organ Transplantation in India

Context

A Union Health Ministry report has highlighted critical gaps in India’s organ transplantation system, citing issues like infrastructure shortages, lack of trained personnel, inadequate ICU capacity, and financial burdens on patients.

Key Findings:

Severe transplant gap: Only 13,476 kidney transplants were performed last year, against the annual need of over 1 lakh transplants in India.
Lack of specialised infrastructure: Most government hospitals lack dedicated transplant OTs and ICUs. ICU beds are heavily burdened with trauma/general care patients. Inadequate beds for maintaining brain-stem dead (BSD) donors.
Absence of labs: There is lack of in-house Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) testing labs in many centres (including AIIMS branches) is causing delays. Dependence on external labs disrupts the timely conduct of transplants.
Human resource shortages:
- Shortage of transplant-trained specialists: nephrologists, transplant surgeons, neurologists, anaesthetists, intensivists.
- Frequent transfer of trained personnel affects continuity.
- Lack of incentives for transplant teams (nurses, coordinators, surgeons).
Financial Burdens on Patients: Transplants need lifelong immunosuppressant drugs—often costing lakhs annually. Current health schemes cover only 1st-year costs, leaving patients exposed thereafter.
Ayushman Bharat PMJAY doesn’t fully cover liver/heart transplants or post-op drugs, making them unaffordable for poor patients.

Recommendations from the Report:

There is need to expand funding for transplant infrastructure, including ICUs and OTs.
Incentivise transplant teams on a case-by-case basis.
Set up dedicated transplant centres in more public hospitals.
Include liver and heart transplants and lifelong drug coverage under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY.

Fact Box:

Organ Transplantation

The transplantation of an organ from one body to another is known as the organ transplant.
Organ transplant is done to replace the recipient's damaged organ with the working organ of the donor so that the recipient could function normally.
Laws and rules governing the organ transplantation in India
Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994 is the primary legislation in India related to organ donation. The Act provides a system of removal, storage and transplantation of human organs for therapeutic purposes and for the prevention of commercial dealings in human organs.
Recent changes: India has also updated its organ donation and transplant guidelines where
No domicile criteria for receivers: The domicile requirement has been done away with.
No age ceiling: With the new changes, patients who are 65 years and older can now register for receiving organs from a deceased donor.
No registration fees: The states are requested to not impose any fees on patients seeking registration for organ transplantation, as it violates the 2014 Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules.

National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO)

The NOTTO is a national-level organisation housed in the Institute of Pathology (ICMR).
It is mandated to establish a network for organ procurement and distribution and to maintain a national registry for the purpose of surveillance of organ donation and transplantation in the country.
It was established under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

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Organ Transplantation in India

Key Findings:

Recommendations from the Report:

Fact Box: