India’s growing transplant needs have brought the country’s persistent shortage of donated organs into sharp focus, with healthcare experts calling for greater public awareness and participation in organ donation.

Speaking at an event held on the eve of World Organ Donation Day, which falls on August 13, in New Delhi, experts from Fortis Escorts, Okhla, and the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) stressed that increasing the availability of organs from deceased donors remains a challenge in India’s transplant ecosystem.

NOTTO Director Dr Anil Kumar said a single deceased donor could save up to eight lives through organ donation, while tissue donation could improve the quality of life of many more. He underlined the need to dispel misconceptions surrounding brain death and encourage more people to pledge their organs.

The scale of the shortage is stark. India’s organ donation rate remains below one donor per million population, while nearly 90,000 patients were on the national transplant waiting list as of March 2026. Between 2020 and 2024, as many as 2,805 patients died while waiting for an organ transplant, according to the information shared at the event.

Despite an increase in the number of transplants, deceased-donor organs account for only about 18 per cent of transplants in the country. Experts said this highlights the urgent need to expand the pool of deceased donors and ensure that potentially life-saving organs do not go unused.

Dr Z S Meharwal, Chairman and Head of Adult Cardiac Surgery at Fortis Escorts Okhla, said greater awareness and participation could help reduce the number of patients who remain on waiting lists simply because a suitable organ is unavailable.

India is progressing in transplant medicine and logistics such as the use of green corridors to transport organs rapidly between hospitals. However, experts noted that sophisticated medical infrastructure could only go so far if the supply of donated organs remains inadequate.

The challenge, therefore, is not merely technological but also social. Addressing myths about organ donation, improving awareness about brain death and encouraging families to discuss donation could play a crucial role in closing the gap between patients waiting for transplants and organs available for transplantation.

For thousands of patients battling serious organ failure, the difference between waiting and receiving a transplant can be the difference between life and death. Experts said greater participation in organ donation is essential if India is to turn advances in transplant medicine into more lives saved.

Reference: PTI; ET Healthworld