Ahmedabad/Surat: Three Gujarat government hospitals were conferred national awards at the 16th Indian Organ Donation Day ceremony in New Delhi, recognising their contributions to organ donation, retrieval and transplantation services and underlining the state's growing role in India’s transplant ecosystem.
Winners and categories
The awards, presented on August 3 at the Dr B.R. Ambedkar International Centre, went to:
- Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Centre (IKDRC), Ahmedabad — awarded for Excellence in Leading Government Hospital in Organ Transplantation.
- Ahmedabad Civil Hospital — recognised as the Best Non-Transplant Organ Retrieval Centre (NTORC) for its organ retrieval work from deceased donors.
- New Civil Hospital, Surat — received the Best Brain Stem Death Team award for timely identification and certification of brain-stem death and relative counselling.
Performance data from IKDRC and allied centres
The Gujarat Health Department provided activity figures that underscore the scale of services at these institutions. In 2025 IKDRC recorded a high volume of transplants and significant outreach to patients from other states.
| Institution | Key figures (2025 or 2025-26) |
|---|---|
| IKDRC, Ahmedabad | 597 organ transplants: 502 kidney, 86 liver, 9 pancreas; 380 transplants under PM-JAY; 34% patients from other states. |
| Ahmedabad Civil Hospital (NTORC) | 171 organs and 34 tissues retrieved from 48 deceased donors among 104 reported brain-stem death cases (2025-26). |
| New Civil Hospital, Surat | 82 brain-stem death certifications during the year (2025-26). |
State reaction and significance
Praful Pansheriya, Gujarat Minister of State for Health, congratulated the medical teams on their national recognition, saying the awards reflected the state’s efforts to strengthen organ donation and transplantation systems. The Health Department highlighted that IKDRC’s caseload includes a substantial number of patients from outside Gujarat, signifying the institution’s regional role.
Officials noted that the combination of a high transplant volume, active retrieval programmes and a structured brain-stem death certification mechanism are critical elements in increasing deceased-donor transplantation rates. Ahmedabad Civil Hospital’s retrieval figures and New Civil Hospital’s certification record were cited as indicators of improved hospital-based donor identification and family counselling practices.
Implications for patients and the transplant ecosystem
Health experts and administrators view the awards as validation of investments in clinical capacity, coordination between hospitals, and public awareness efforts. The presence of a sizeable share of out-of-state patients at IKDRC emphasises the hospital’s role as a referral centre for complex transplant care, while retrieval and certification gains point to strengthened organ-donation pathways within government hospitals.
- Recognition may boost donor registration and hospital-level protocols for brain-stem death identification.
- Expanded PM-JAY coverage for transplants — reflected by the 380 free procedures at IKDRC — signals financial protection for vulnerable patients.
- Improved retrieval numbers at Ahmedabad Civil suggest better coordination between critical-care teams and transplant networks.
What the numbers mean locally
For patients in Gujarat and neighbouring states, these awards and the underlying activity figures translate into more accessible transplantation services and greater likelihood of receiving care under public schemes. For hospital administrators and policy makers, the data reinforce priorities such as strengthening grief counselling, streamlining legal-medical certification, and building capacity for multi-organ transplants.
While the awards highlight progress, officials say continued efforts are needed to increase deceased-donor rates and reduce waiting times for organs. The Health Department’s published figures provide a baseline for monitoring future improvement and for replicating successful practices at other government hospitals in the state.
Reporting from Ahmedabad and Surat; further details on national award citation texts and future targets for organ donation in Gujarat are awaited from the state health department.
Kiran Patel is the Gujarat correspondent covering health and institutional developments.
