Gurgaon: The city stood at the second spot across Haryana in the list of patients awaiting organ transplants. As many as 449 patients in the city were waiting for organ transplants, accounting for nearly 12.4% of the 3,619 patients — over one in every ten patients from the city — on the waiting list across Haryana, according to National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO).The number of patients awaiting organs in Haryana has risen over the years, NOTTO data says. The state had 1,144 patients on the waiting list in 2020, which increased to 1,521 in 2021, 2,737 in 2022 and 3,353 in 2023. “There exists a huge gap between organ requirement and donations. This gap can only be decreased with increased donations. Awareness needs to be created regarding the safety and success of live organ donations and also willingness for cadaveric donations needs to be increased,” a govt doctor told TOI.The data — across Haryana’s 22 districts — puts Faridabad next with 381 patients, followed by Ambala with 328 and Panchkula with 306. The data was obtained through an RTI application — dated Sept 16 — filed by Aseem Takyar, a city-based activist. NOTTO’s central public information officer Dr Shiny Suman Pradhan said that the district-wise data was as of Oct 21.Organ transplants rely on organs donated by deceased or living donors. The shortage of available organs compared with the number of patients requiring transplants remains a challenge. Explaining the process followed for organ donation and transplantation, a doctor at a govt hospital in the city said the health department held weekly meetings to approve transplant cases.“If a brain-dead patient is admitted to a private hospital, the authorities verify whether the case can be classified as brain death and inform the internal board. Once the board confirms brain death, doctors or the hospital management speak to the patient’s family members to seek consent for organ donation,” the doctor said.Karnal had 252 patients on the waiting list, followed by Yamunanagar with 224 and Kurukshetra with 222. Hisar recorded 162 patients, Sirsa 148 and Panipat 145, while Rohtak and Sonipat had 134 each. Kaithal had 127 patients and Bhiwani 111. The waiting list stood at 98 in Jhajjar, 84 in Fatehabad, 79 in Mahendragarh and 69 in Rewari. Palwal had 40 patients and Nuh 21. Charkhi Dadri reported no patients on the waiting list.
