Key Data: According to data from the National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (Notto), southern states in India are leading in heart transplants, primarily because of higher organ donations.
2023 Overview: Out of 221 heart transplants performed across India in 2023, Tamil Nadu topped the list with 70, followed by Karnataka with 35. Maharashtra and Gujarat each conducted 33, while Telangana had 15. Delhi-NCR, on the other hand, saw only 14 transplants.
Why the South Leads: Officials attribute the higher number of heart transplants in the southern states to the greater availability of donated organs in the region. In 2023, India recorded 1,099 heart donations, with Telangana contributing the most (252), followed by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka (178 each).
Heart Transplant Facts: A heart transplant involves replacing a diseased heart with a healthy one from a deceased donor—someone who is brain-dead but kept on life support. Unlike other organs like the liver or kidney, the heart can only be donated posthumously.
Challenges: Despite growth in the number of transplants since the first successful surgery at AIIMS in 1994, the procedure remains limited by a shortage of donors. Around 10% of heart patients in India suffer from end-stage heart failure and might need a transplant, but few can get one due to the scarcity of donor hearts. While private hospitals charge between ₹20-25 lakh for a transplant, government hospitals offer the procedure at a much lower cost, though waitlists are long.
Expert Opinion: Dr. Y K Misra of Manipal Hospitals highlights that many patients needing a heart transplant travel to southern states due to the higher availability of donor hearts and, in some cases, free medications provided by the state.
Future Improvements: Dr. Sudhir Gupta of AIIMS suggests that amendments to the Human Organ Transplant Act of 1994 could help increase cadaver-heart donations. This might include mandatory reporting of brain deaths by hospital ICUs and better coordination through a central online registry.
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