Hyderabad: With an organ donation rate that is nearly seven times the national average, Telangana was declared the best state for cadaver transplantation by the Union health ministry on Saturday, 14th Indian Organ Donation Day.
In 2023, the organ donation rate of Telangana was 5.48 per million population, whereas India's average rate for 2023 was 0.8.
The state government has taken steps to promote organ donation through the Jeevandan scheme, which was started in 2012.
The Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (Nims) is the designated appropriate authority for cadaver transplantation. Forty hospitals in Telangana are permitted to carry out cadaver transplantation, including the government-run Nims, Osmania General Hospital and Gandhi Hospital.
Since the establishment of the Jeevandan programme, 5,541 organs and tissues have been retrieved from 1,465 cadaveric donors and 550 organ transplants have been done free of cost.
In 2023, around 200 donations were made of which 729 organs were retrieved. The maximum donations made were for kidneys, followed by corneas, liver, lungs, heart and pancreas.
In 2024, 103 donations have already been made through which 421 organs have been harvested. From 2013 till July 2024, NIMS has done 452 cadaveric donation transplants, followed by 83 in OGH, 14 in Gandhi Hospital and one in ESIC.
Around 143 donating families were honoured on Friday at Osmania Medical College.
