BENGALURU: Karnataka recorded 198 organ donations in 2025, the highest in the state’s history, up from 178 in 2023.
While the increase places the state third nationally after Tamil Nadu and Telangana, health experts said the improvement remains modest and points to deeper systemic gaps.
“The improvement is just more than 10 per cent. There is progress, but a lot more remains to be done. There is still a large untapped pool of potential donors, especially in major government hospitals that handle trauma and neurological cases,” Harsh Gupta, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, said.
Officials said the growth was driven by structural changes in the transplant ecosystem.
“We increased the number of transplant centres, expedited hospital renewals and expanded organ retrieval centres. Cross-matching laboratories were established in Mangaluru, Hubballi and Mysuru, reducing delays and avoiding the need to transport samples to Bengaluru,” the official said.
The state has also procured a new software platform aimed at improving transparency, allocation efficiency and real-time communication between donor and recipient hospitals from this year.
Surgeons involved in public-sector transplants say public confidence in organ donation has improved gradually over the past decade.
Dr Nagesh NS, gastroenterologist and director of the Institute of Gastroenterology and Organ Transplant (IGOT), Bengaluru, said the introduction of transplants in government hospitals helped normalise the process.
“When Victoria Hospital began transplants in 2016 and later with the setting up of IGOT under a public-private partnership, people saw that such procedures were being carried out within the public health system,” he said.
According to him, consistent outcomes, along with the involvement of NGOs, zonal coordination and sustained administrative support, contributed to greater acceptance over time.
However, transplant specialists caution that donation activity remains concentrated in a few urban centres. Dr Mahesh Gopashetty, HOD & Senior Consultant – Liver Transplant & HPB Surgeon at Sparsh Hospital, said Karnataka is “nowhere close” to ideal donation rates per million population.
“Most donations come from cities like Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad and Belagavi. Contributions from large parts of the state are negligible,” he said.
Dr Shetty pointed to logistical challenges in using organs from remote districts.
“Connectivity is a major issue. Even when there is consent, time constraints, long distances and the family’s need to complete last rites quickly sometimes make it impossible to utilise organs,” he said.
He also flagged gaps in awareness across communities and among healthcare professionals.
“Even today, not all doctors fully understand brain death or how to medically maintain an organ donor. That expertise is not available in every district hospital.”
Experts agree that expanding retrieval centres to all medical college hospitals, strengthening counselling teams, improving connectivity and training doctors across disciplines will be critical.
“We have come a long way in the last 10–15 years,” Dr Shetty said.
“The acceptance is better now, but these numbers can and must improve significantly,” he added.