How deceased donor transplantation is impacting a decline in commercial transplantation-the Tamil Nadu experience

India with a population of 1.2 billion has a renal transplantation rate of 3.25 per million population. The major cause of chronic kidney disease is hypertension and diabetes. The crude and age-adjusted incidence rates of end-stage renal disease are estimated to be 151 and 232 per million population, respectively, in India. There was a remarkable lack of knowledge in the public about deceased organ donation until a decade ago. However, the role played by the media and nongovernmental organizations in partnership with the government has emphasized and implemented deceased donor transplantation in certain states in India-to mention particularly, the Tamil Nadu model. In the last 2 years, deceased organ donation has reached 1.3 per million population in Tamil Nadu, thereby effectively eliminating commercial transplantation. There is no religious bar for organ donation. A central transplant coordinator appointed by the government oversees legitimate and transparent allocation of deceased organs both in the public and private facilities as per the transplant waiting list. This model also takes care of the poor sections of society by conducting donation and transplantation through government-run public facilities free of cost. In the last 2 years, deceased donor transplantation has been performed through this network procuring organs such as the heart, heart valves, lung, liver, kidneys, cornea, and skin. The infrastructural lack of immunological surveillance-including donor-specific antibody monitoring, human leukocyte antigen typing, and panel reactive antibody except in a few tertiary care centers-prevents allocation according to the immunological status of the recipient. This private-public partnership promoting deceased donor transplantation has effectively eliminated commercialization in transplantation in the state of Tamil Nadu with a population of 72 million which is a model for other regions of South Asia and developing countries.