From seven deceased donor organ donations in its first year, to 266 in a single year, Tamil Nadu has come a long way in 17 years. Behind the rise is a gradual shift in public perception, shaped by sustained awareness efforts, measures to build confidence, and trust and improvements in the State’s transplant infrastructure and systems.
The numbers tell a compelling story of how far the State has come with regard to organ donation and transplantation. Since 2008, the highest number of deceased organ donors was recorded in 2024, when Tamil Nadu had 268 donors. In 2025, there were 266 donors – 211 men and 55 women. A total of 1,476 organs were utilised – 856 major organs and 620 minor organs and tissues that year, according to the Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu’s data.
On World Organ Donation Day, which falls on August 13, experts revisit the milestones, the lessons learnt and the road ahead.
How it worked
J. Amalorpavanathan, founder-member secretary, Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu, said, “When we started in 2008, the concept of brain death was scarcely understood among healthcare professionals. A few coordinated brain death certifications were happening sporadically, with MOHAN Foundation [an NGO] coordinating around two to three such cases a year in a few city hospitals. The State government had decided to start the Cadaver Transplant Programme (CTP), and the groundwork began in April. We went on to issue 10 government orders. It was in September that year that the parents of 15-year-old Hithendran (who had sustained severe injuries in a road accident and was declared brain dead) decided to donate his organs. The CTP was launched in October 2008, and Hithendran’s case helped organ donation pick up in the State.”
Recalling his visits to all districts, he said that initially, there was reluctance among doctors. “But whenever I interacted with the general public, I found a sense of receptiveness. In fact, though they had questions and sought clarifications, I found the least resistance among them. We slowly convinced healthcare professionals to certify brain death. We had seven donations in the first year, and crossed 180 in a year in eight years. Though the number of organ donations dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic, it picked up again thereafter,” he pointed out.
Families coming forward
Sunil Shroff, managing trustee of MOHAN Foundation, said there had been a tremendous improvement in awareness levels over the years. “Earlier, we found it hard to obtain consent for organ donation. Now, many families are coming forward to donate. In States such as Tamil Nadu and Telangana, where awareness is relatively high, I think that 10 to 15% of families come forward to donate. This is a paradigm shift,” he observed.
About 72% of deceased organ donations in the country happens in five States – Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. Southern states, he said, have done well in terms of creating awareness on organ donations.
Compared with other States, awareness about organ donation was far higher in Tamil Nadu. Unpublished data from a major transplant centre showed that the acceptance rate was 70 to 75% after the first counselling and increased by another 10% following the second counselling, a senior doctor noted.
“According to me, awareness creation can be approached in two ways. One is to organise awareness campaigns and sessions and encourage people to take pledges. In T.N.’s experience, we found that news about successful donations, honour walks for donors and giving due recognition to donors were more effective awareness tools. Since October 2023 (the former DMK government issued an order to accord State honours to the mortal remains of deceased donors in September 2023), more than 800 such State honours have been accorded. News about successful donations and the utilisation of donated organs has proved to be a more effective way of creating awareness,” Dr. Shroff explained.
What’s needed now
Dr. Amalorpavanathan said that the involvement of people and healthcare professionals along with government support has helped improve organ donation in the State. “Successive governments did their best to take the programme forward. We have well developed infrastructure and doctors who are willing to go the extra mile,” he said.
However, this brings in another perspective. “We have an unacceptable number of brain deaths due to the high number of road traffic accidents. We need to reduce accidents and make roads safe. Developed countries have moved towards Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD), and we should also explore this possibility. In living donor organ transplants, we should promote swap transplants in a big way,” he noted.
At a recent press conference on a heart transplant in a young patient with Dilated Cardiomyopathy, Rajeev Thilak Chellasamy, heart transplant surgeon at SIMS Hospital, Chennai, elaborated on DCD. He noted that India has a long waiting list for transplants, and has traditionally relied on donations following brain death, while DCD was not ethically approved in the country. In DCD, the practice of which has been around for nearly 10 to 15 years, the heart is connected to a perfusion system. DCD numbers have increased in North America. If considered, it is a viable opportunity to increase the pool of donor hearts. The number of people dying while on the waiting list has increased and this needs to be addressed, he said.
Dr. Shroff called for establishing green corridors in hospitals for seamless integration of organ donation processes so that there are no missed opportunities. Similarly, every hospital should have nodal officers in place, he said.
Published – August 13, 2026 11:13 am IST
