India performs the world's third-highest number of organ transplants, but meets only a small fraction of the country's actual requirement, according to the first study to assess the country's unmet transplant need, according to a Times Of India by Malathy Iyer.
The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health–Southeast Asia, estimates that India needed close to 3.9 lakh kidney, liver, heart and lung transplants in 2021. This number is projected to rise to 4.63 lakh annually by 2040 as the population ages and chronic diseases become more widespread. At present, only a small proportion of patients who need a transplant actually receive one.
