New Delhi: India’s worsening kidney donor crisis is leaving thousands to die waiting, as experts warn that the country’s heavy reliance on living donors is no longer sustainable.

With nearly one lakh patients requiring kidney transplants every year, only about 35,000 are able to receive one—highlighting a stark and deadly gap in access to treatment.

Health experts are now calling for an urgent shift towards cadaveric (dead donor) organ donation, which they say remains the only viable long-term solution.

Dr Anil Kumar, Director at the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), said rigid legal frameworks and socio-economic barriers continue to hinder living donations.

“The living donor route involves multiple legal and procedural hurdles. Financial and social constraints further limit access, making it extremely difficult for many patients to find donors,” he said.

While the government is attempting to ease some of these restrictions, experts insist that boosting cadaveric donations is critical.
“Dead donors are often the only hope. But due to lack of awareness, very few people pledge their organs,” Dr Kumar added.

Even when donations occur, allocation is handled through a centralised, computerised system to ensure fairness and timely transplantation, he said.

Nowhere is the crisis more visible than in Delhi, where the numbers paint a grim picture. Out of every 100 kidney patients, only two receive organs from deceased donors.

In a bid to tackle this shortage, doctors are exploring innovative techniques. At the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), a breakthrough in 2024 saw a patient successfully receive two kidneys from a single deceased donor—offering a new lease of life.

This procedure, known as dual kidney transplantation, involves transplanting both kidneys from a marginal or medically compromised donor into one recipient. It is increasingly being seen as a way to maximise limited organ availability.

Dr Dipankar Bhomik, nephrologist at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), highlighted advancements in surgical approaches.
“Kidney transplantation today includes minimally invasive robotic surgery as well as conventional open procedures, depending on the patient’s condition,” he said.

Adding to this, Dr Abuthan Singh Jadon noted that India recently witnessed its first N-block dual kidney transplant in a young adult—an approach traditionally reserved for paediatric cases. Similar procedures have been reported in the United States as well.

Experts say such techniques are especially useful when donor kidneys are small or not functioning optimally, ensuring that even marginal organs are not wasted.

In a recent case in Delhi, a patient battling kidney failure was given a new life at AIIMS through a deceased donor transplant. Doctors pointed out that organs from donors with conditions like diabetes are often underutilised, but dual transplantation methods can change that.

As India grapples with a growing burden of kidney disease, the message from the medical community is clear: without a massive push for organ donation awareness and policy reform, the gap between demand and supply will only widen—costing countless lives.

(Cover Photo: Dialysis in Yashodahealcare Hospital. Credit: yashodahealthcare.com)