In 2023, 221 heart transplants were carried out across India. Of these, Notto data show that a maximum of 70 were carried out in Tamil Nadu, followed by Karnataka (35), Maharashtra (33), Gujarat (29) and Telangana (15).Delhi-NCR witnessed only 14 transplants, according to the govt report. Officials attribute the higher number of heart transplants in South India to an increase in harvesting from the deceased.
India recorded a total of 1,099 deceased donations in 2023, with the highest number (252) reported in Telangana, followed by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with 178 each, Maharashtra with 148, and Gujarat with 146, an official stated.
A heart transplant is a surgery to remove a damaged or diseased heart and replace it with a healthy donor heart. While the liver and kidney can be donated by living donors, the heart must be donated by someone who is brain-dead and is on life support, also referred to as a ‘deceased donor’.
Data shows that while the number of deceased donations in the South and the West show a substantial uptick, other regions are lagging behind. Laggard states must find out what makes these states more successful in their endeavours and adopt those practices. An inter-state meet on the subject would help.
According to Dr Y K Misra, head of cardiac sciences and chief cardiovascular surgeon at Manipal Hospitals, southern states get considerably more deceased donations hence most patients requiring a heart transplant go there and get enrolled. “Some of these states also provide free of cost medications to heart recipients,” he added.
The first successful heart transplant in India took place at AIIMS in 1994. Since then, number of such transplants have grown multi-fold but, doctors say, it remains a fraction of the actual requirement.
Nearly 10 % of total number of heart patients suffer from end-stage heart failure which may necessitate a transplant. But due to scarcity of donors, doctors say, few can undergo a heart transplant. Private hospitals charge anywhere between Rs 20 to 25 lakh for a transplant. Govt hospitals perform the life-saving procedure for a fraction of the cost, but the wait list is too long.
Dr Sudhir Gupta, assistant professor of forensic medicine at AIIMS, said, “In India, certain amendments to Human Organ Transplant Act, 1994 are required to enhance cadaver-heart-retrieval. This may include making it mandatory for hospital ICUs to declare all brain deaths and register them with an online central organ registry for better coordination of cadaver heart donation, retrieval and transplantation.”
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