Health System Building Blocks and Organ Transplantation in India

The absence of registries in India makes it challenging to provide a precise estimate of those developing end-stage organ failure and thus benefitting from transplantation.

Divyaveer, Smita MD, DM; Nagral, Sanjay MS; Prasad, K.T. MD, DM; Sharma, Ashish MS4 Jha, Vivekanand MD, DM
Aug 2021, Transplantation Journal

Disease Burden

The absence of registries in India makes it challenging to provide a precise estimate of those developing end-stage organ failure and thus benefitting from transplantation. A population-based study estimated an annual age-adjusted incidence of 232 patients with kidney failure per million population.1 A 2016 nation wide survey projected the number of patients on dialysis at about 175 000 and the number of kidney transplants at 6857.2 The Indian Ministry of Health assessed that about 180 000 kidney transplants are needed each year. The number of patients in need for extrarenal transplants is also not known—approximately 40 000–50 000 are estimated to need liver transplants annually; the number of patients requiring heart and lung transplants is expected at 50 000 for each organ.3 Table 1 shows the estimated need and the actual number of organ transplants in India.

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