With an organ donation rate of 1.8 per million populations in 2013, Tamil Nadu continues to be the leader in deceased organ donation in the country. The national organ donation rate in 2013 was 0.26 per million populations. In 2013, there were 131 deceased organ donors in Tamil Nadu and as a result a total of 670 organs and tissues were retrieved (Fig. 1). Significantly, the statistics revealed that while the majority of the deceased donors were still from the North zone (93), the West and South zones contributed substantially with 22 and 15 deceased donors respectively, that is a total of 37 deceased donors (Fig. 2). There was one out-of-state donor. The North zone comprises Chennai, Tiruvallur and Vellore. The cities that come under the West zone are Coimbatore and Salem, while Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil are in the South zone. All the deceased donors in the West zone were from Coimbatore based hospitals. The maximum numbers of deceased donors in the South zone were from Tiruchirapalli followed by Madurai and then Tirunelveli. The reason for the maximum number of donors in the North zone may be because there are more transplant hospitals in this zone as compared to the other zones. Added to this is the fact that the metropolis Chennai is in the North zone. But now it is heartening to see that the West and South zones comprising tier-II cities are not lagging behind. In 2012, there were only 11 deceased donors totally from the West and South zones out of a total of 83 deceased donors in the state. The reasons for the increase in the number of deceased donors in tier-II cities are manifold – increased awareness about the success of deceased organ donation and transplantation among doctors and the general public, better infrastructure in hospitals and the presence of grief counselors/transplant coordinators, government and media support.

Fig.1 - Deceased Donors & Tissues retrieved in Tamil Nadu in 2013

Fig. 2 – Deceased Donors by zone in

Tamil Nadu