Deceased organ donation in India – Current challenges and scenario

Worldwide, organ transplantation has saved and enhanced the lives of thousands of recipients over the past five decades. Organ transplantation rates are still lower in developing countries including India. The cause of this low rate is attributable to many factors including unawareness about procedure and concerned laws, low education levels, inadequate trained workforce, low socioeconomic status, and costly immunosuppressive drugs. In the last few years, the government has tried positively to increase the organ transplantation by forming the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization. Now, the government needs to push for affordable transplantation by strengthening the public sector hospitals and by making the transplant medications more affordable. Moreover, the transplant community should strive to increase the organ donation awareness, improve the infrastructure for organ retrieval, storage, and allocation in an equitable way.