India needs greater awareness and participation in organ donation: Experts

New Delhi: India needs greater awareness and participation in organ donation to bridge the gap between the demand for and availability of donated organs, experts said.

At an event held on Wednesday on the eve of World Organ Donation Day, healthcare experts from Fortis Escorts, Okhla, and the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) highlighted the country's critical shortage of organs and called for greater awareness around organ donation, according to an official statement.

"A single deceased donor can save up to eight lives and improve the quality of life for dozens more through tissue donation," NOTTO Director Dr Anil Kumar said, stressing the need to address myths surrounding brain death and encourage people to pledge their organs.


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, the statement said. It added that 2,805 patients died while awaiting organ transplants between 2020 and 2024.

Despite rising transplant numbers, deceased-donor organs account for only around 18 per cent of transplants, underscoring the need to expand organ donation, it said.

Fortis Escorts Okhla Chairman and Head of Adult Cardiac Surgery Dr Z S Meharwal said greater awareness and participation could help ensure fewer patients remain on waiting lists simply because a suitable organ was unavailable, the statement said.

The experts also highlighted advances in transplant medicine and systems such as green corridors, while stressing that the availability of donated organs remained the most critical link in the transplant process, it added.