Doctors stress the need to develop regional centres in the government sector to focus on a single organ transplant. The Government Stanley Medical College Hospital has a liver transplant unit.
| Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
The contribution of government hospitals to the organ donor pool has increased gradually over the past four years in Tamil Nadu. In 2025, government hospitals accounted for 58% of the deceased donors and their share has risen to 64% as of April 2026. However, organ transplantation, except for kidneys, remains limited in volume, likely reflecting the interplay of multiple factors.
The number of deceased donors in Tamil Nadu showed a substantial increase from 156 in 2022 to 178 in 2023, and rose to a record high of 268 in 2024. It remained at a similar level in 2025 with 266 donors and stood at 112 up to April 2026. During this period, the government’s contribution to the organ donor pool increased steadily, rising from 33% to 64%, data from the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) shows.
A number of factors contributed to better performance of government hospitals, N. Gopalakrishnan, member secretary, TRANSTAN, said. This includes honour walks in government medical college hospitals, government announcement granting State honours to deceased donors, systematic reorientation for government doctors by TRANSTAN, standardisation of operational protocols, multi-level periodic reviews, and continuous updation of knowledge and practical know-how through Continuing Medical Education programmes.
A total of 13 government hospitals and 159 private hospitals hold transplant licences, while there are 35 Non Transplant Organ Retrieval Centres (NTORC) in the government sector. “Almost 15% of the donors were contributed by these non-transplant organ retrieval centres. These centres proved to be a gamechanger for improving donations and expanding the pool of donors,” he said.
Once a donor is identified, maintenance becomes crucial, he said, adding: “Starting with constant communication to brain death certification, we have protocols in place. As a result, donors crashing before organ retrieval has become rare now. But there is no room for complacency. Measures to sustain the progress are happening.”
Dr. Gopalakrishnan added the acceptance rate for organ donation was around 75% to 80% in the State. “The reasons for the remaining 20% to 25% have to be studied. There are certain myths surrounding organ donation. We need to address apprehensions among families and expedite processes such as faster handing over of mortal remains after organ retrieval,” he said, adding that transparency in the organ allocation process has led to trust in the system among the public.
A number of senior doctors said there were areas that required strengthening. More government centres should have the capacity to perform transplants, and training for heart, lung, and liver transplants. One or two fully equipped government centres can function in each region to improve the organ transplant rates. Doctors said kidney transplants dominated the transplantations in the government sector as most centres perform them. Patients with renal failure are able to survive with the help of dialysis, resulting in more persons listed for kidney transplants. Many have a good quality of life on maintenance dialysis, which is provided free of cost in the government sector. On the contrary, liver, heart, and lung failures do not have enough support systems and the number of patients listed for transplants was relatively less.
“We need to develop regional centres in the government sector to focus on a single organ transplant. This way, we can pool all resources, including human resources. For instance, the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital has a liver transplant unit,” a senior doctor said.
Published – June 08, 2026 12:22 am IST