New Delhi, August 3 (IANS): About 50,000 people in India need heart transplants each year, but only 0.2 per cent are able to get donors, according to health experts who, on National Heart Transplant Day on Thursday, shared alternative options for those waiting for donor hearts.
National Heart Transplant Day is observed annually on August 3 to raise awareness about the life-saving procedure that replaces a damaged heart with a healthy donor heart.
The first heart transplant in India took place at AIIMS, New Delhi in 1994.
Since then the number of patients waiting for healthy hearts have soared, but donor hearts have been less.
According to the data published by National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), 1,572 heart transplants have been conducted in India between 2013 to 2022.
"Each year, about 90-100 transplants are conducted. However, this number is very miniscule, considering the number of patients who are waiting for healthy hearts. In India, of the 50,000 people who need heart transplants each year, only 0.2 per cent receive transplants," Dr Sandeep Seth, Professor of Cardiology, AIIMS, told IANS.
For a majority of the patients who are either ineligible for a heart transplant or who cannot get a heart transplant immediately, the alternative is to keep them on medical therapy for the maximum period possible.
While waiting time varies for a donor heart, Dr Seth said currently, in India, the waiting period for a heart transplant in India is between 3 months to 1-1.5 years. As soon as the recipient's name is placed on the waiting list, the search for a suitable donor heart begins.
