Karnataka records highest-ever organ donations in 2025, ranks third nationally

The Karnataka State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (SOTTO), the central organization that facilitates cadaveric organ donations, recorded 198 donations in 2025; This is the highest figure ever recorded in the state. This surpasses the previous peak of 178 donations in 2023. With this, Karnataka ranked third in the country in organ donations this year, after Tamil Nadu with 267 donations and Telangana with 205 donations.

The steady increase in donations over the past five years reflects expanded hospital participation, increased awareness and improved systems, officials said. While the state recorded 168 donations in 2024, this figure increased to 70 in 2021.

Chief Secretary (Health) Harsh Gupta said: Hindu It was stated that the increase was due to continuous awareness efforts as well as designation of more hospitals, including tier two cities, as non-receiving organ transplant centers (NTHORCs). “We also congratulate the donor families on January 26 and August 15, through the Prime Minister and Ministers, who helped raise awareness and confidence about organ donation,” he said.

Expansion plans

Mr Gupta said the government now plans to expand the scheme to taluk-level hospitals as well. “Doctors also need to be sensitive about declaring brain death. There is a lot more to be done. We are determining where the donation potential is and what the challenges are,” he said.

He noted that institutions such as NIMHANS see a significant number of cases where brain death could potentially be declared, but these opportunities are not fully exploited. “It’s a challenge. We had planned to deploy special counselors and reserve beds for potential brain death cases, but these are not being used effectively. We will be posting two special grief counselors there soon,” he said.

Tamil Nadu software

To improve transparency and efficiency, the Karnataka SOTTO adopted a software system already in use in Tamil Nadu. The platform tracks the entire process, from registering patients, declaring brain death, waiting list, identifying suitable recipients and facilitating transplants.

“Basic data entry has started. Once a patient registers, the queue system will start. All documents will be uploaded by hospitals and every step will be tracked online,” said Mr. Gupta.

In the new system, alerts will be sent to the first 50 registered patients and assigned hospitals when donation is activated. “Everything will be managed online and there will be transparency at every stage,” he said.

Cross matching services

Karnataka also has decentralized cross-matching services, which earlier required patients to travel to Bengaluru.

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bangalore Medical Services Trust (BMST) laboratory to provide cross-matching and HLA testing for eligible recipients in Mangaluru (Wenlock Hospital), Hubballi (KIMS) and Mysuru (KR Hospital). For each donation, the first five to 10 eligible patients will be called for matching, a process that will take five to six hours.

“Karnataka has significant untapped potential in organ donation and recent gains represent only a modest beginning. This trend now needs to be pushed much further,” Mr Gupta added.

State misses out on 15 potential grants in 2025

Karnataka missed out on 15 potential organ donations in 2025. The main reason for this is the reluctance of potential donors’ families and misunderstandings about organ donations.

Elaborating on the reasons, officials said potential donations were sometimes missed because the identified donor was not eligible to donate for clinical reasons. Or, someone from the donor’s family/distant family/friend circle says no to organ donation, and their relatives do not have much of a say in decision-making, except for the wishes of those who oppose it. There are also misconceptions about organ donation.