In 2021, Organ Transplant Supply in India Met 0.2% of Heart Need: Study
Five states -- Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Telangana -- represented about 29 per cent of the country's population, yet accounted for about 80-96 per cent of transplants in 2024
By : PTI
Update: 2026-07-29 11:18 GMT
New Delhi: Supply of organ transplant in India in 2021 met only 0.2 per cent of heart, 1.2 per cent of lung need and 1.5 per cent of liver need, according to a study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal. Findings also show that the organ transplant supply met only 7.2 per cent of kidney need.
Researchers, including those from the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences and Fortis Vasant Kunj in New Delhi, said that by 2040, organ need is projected to reach 1,43,722 kidney, 2,10,649 liver, 95,711 heart, and 12,846 lung transplants annually.
They said that despite having the world's third highest transplant volume, India does not have a systematic assessment of unmet transplant need across organs.
The team added that under moderate reform, coverage in 2040 reaches only 32.6 per cent for kidney and remains below seven per cent for liver, heart and lung.
"In 2021, estimated annual transplant need was 125,894 kidney; 184,542 liver; 83,841 heart; and 11,253 lung transplants. Actual supply met only 7.2 per cent of kidney, 1.5 per cent of liver, 0.2 per cent of heart, and 1.2 per cent of lung need," the authors wrote.
Further, five states -- Tamil Nadu, Delhi NCR, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Telangana -- represented about 29 per cent of the country's population, yet accounted for about 80-96 per cent of transplants in 2024.
Kerala was found to achieve the highest rate of kidney transplant at 31.1 pmp (per million population), followed by Delhi-NCR and Tamil Nadu.
Among the states with the lowest rates of kidney transplant was Uttar Pradesh, which performed only 447 (1.9 pmp). Bihar performed 31 (0.2 pmp) and several north-eastern states reported zero.
Geographic concentration was found to be "even more extreme" for liver, heart, and lung transplantation, with over 85 per cent of the procedures occurring in just five states.
The researchers analysed data, including the Global Burden of Disease 2021 organ-specific disease incidence and demographic projections till 2040.
"This study provides the first population-based projections of SOT (solid organ transplantation) need for India across kidney, liver, heart, and lung," they said.
A moderate reform is the most realistic scenario for India, benchmarked to emerging economies, such as Turkey, Brazil and Argentina, representing an achievable progress with sustained political will and infrastructure investment, the researchers said.
However, under the scenario, only 32.6 per cent kidney coverage and 6.9 per cent liver coverage can be expected, they said.
The aspirational scenario, looking to a Spain-level performance, might meet acceptable coverage in two decades, but would require India to undergo a massive transformation.
The country's current donation numbers, which come largely from living donation, is 70-fold lower than that of Spain and 58-fold lower than that of the US.
"Our findings show that even (a) modest growth in transplant capacity may be insufficient to meet the projected population-level SOT need in India. Hence, health policies for disease prevention remain a key driver of future demand along with expanding transplant infrastructure," the team wrote.