Archive · 15 Aug 2026
India performs 20,000 transplants, but organ gap persists
Some people become very sick when their organs, like the liver or kidneys, stop working properly.
A transplant is an operation where doctors give the sick person a healthy organ, usually from another person.
In India, doctors now do more than 20,000 transplants every year.
Ten years ago, they did fewer than 5,000.
But there are still many more sick people waiting for organs than there are organs available.
Some people wait for a long time, and sadly, some die before they get help.
Healthy people can give part of their liver because the liver can grow back, like a lizard growing back its tail.
But donating an organ is a serious operation, so doctors check the donor very carefully to keep them safe.
Doctors say that talking with your family and learning the facts about organ donation can help save more lives.
India's annual organ transplants grew from fewer than 5,000 a decade ago to more than 20,000 last year, yet demand still far outstrips supply.
Experts say thousands of patients remain on waiting lists, and many will not survive the wait for an organ.
The liver's regenerative ability enables living-donor liver transplants, but donor surgery carries risks such as bleeding, infection, bile leakage and blood clots.
Doctors urge open family conversations and community-level awareness efforts to dispel myths about organ donation.
Regulatory advances include new national guidelines on brain-stem death certification and swap transplantation for incompatible donor-recipient pairs.
- Who
- Indian doctors at transplant centres across the country and patients awaiting organ transplants.
- What
- India's annual organ transplants have risen to more than 20,000, but a large gap persists between patients waiting for organs and organs actually available.
- When
- Over the past decade, with more than 20,000 transplants performed last year.
- Where
- India, including transplant centres in Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Pune.
- Why
- Demand far outstrips supply because of a shortage of deceased-donor organs, myths and family hesitation around donation, and a need for better awareness and trust.
- Annual transplants (last year)
- More than 20,000
- Transplants a decade ago
- Fewer than 5,000
- Organs highlighted
- Liver and kidney
- Basis of living-donor liver transplants
- Liver's ability to regrow volume after a portion is removed
- Donor surgery risks
- Bleeding, infection, bile leakage and blood clots
- Recent regulatory advances
- National guidelines on brain-stem death certification and swap transplantation
- Common donor myths
- Concerns about masculinity, reproductive health and fertility