Overview
- India performed over 18,900 organ transplants in 2024—third highest globally—yet hundreds of thousands die each year waiting for donor organs.
- Deceased-donor rate stands at just 0.81 per million population, a fraction of rates in leading countries such as Spain (≈52 per million).
- NOTTO’s Aadhaar-linked pledge portal has logged more than 330,000 potential donors since 2023, but family consent hurdles and cultural myths often block actual donations.
- The August 2 NOTTO guidelines set new quality and safety standards to expand transplant-ready ICUs and train hospital coordinator teams under uniform protocols.
- State initiatives such as Tamil Nadu’s donor recognition programmes and Andhra Pradesh’s Jeevandan mobile coordinator teams are held up as models for boosting deceased donations.