Sat Oct 04 11:57:36 UTC 2025: **Summary:**

A national survey reveals a significant gap in brain death certification knowledge and training among Indian physicians, leading to missed opportunities for organ donation. Experts emphasize the urgent need for improved training programs, uniform protocols, and increased awareness to address this critical issue and boost organ donation rates in India.

**News Article:**

**India’s Organ Donation Hampered by Lack of Brain Death Certification Training**

CHENNAI, October 4, 2025 – A recent national survey has revealed a concerning lack of adequate training and awareness surrounding brain death certification among Indian physicians, resulting in a significant number of potential organ donations being missed. The survey, conducted over three months and spearheaded by Professor Deepak Gupta of AIIMS, Delhi, found that fewer than half of surveyed doctors had received formal training in brain death certification during medical school, with only 10% reporting routine training for their residents.

The findings, published in the September-October edition of Neurology India, highlight a critical gap in India’s organ donation program. “Without awareness and training on brain death certification, the deceased organ donation rates cannot go up,” Professor Gupta stated during a press conference held via Zoom today. The survey also indicated that while 96% of the 177 doctors surveyed were aware of the apnea test, nearly half failed to screen for drugs or toxins, a vital step in ruling out reversible causes of coma.

Sunil Shroff, trustee of MOHAN Foundation, emphasized the stark contrast between the high number of road traffic deaths (approximately 160,000 annually) and the relatively low number of organ donations (1,000-1,200 per year). He pointed to the need for trained counselors and intensivists, along with streamlined hospital processes, to facilitate organ donation. “Just as green corridors were being set up in cities to transport organs, hospitals too, needed green corridors to make their processes easier,” he said.

Mathew Joseph, neurosurgeon at CMC, Vellore, echoed concerns about the lack of familiarity with brain death, stressing the need for practical learning to keep pace with increased awareness.

The panel of experts urged immediate action to build awareness and strengthen brain death certification training programs for doctors, starting at the medical college level. They emphasized the need for frequent training sessions and the establishment of uniform protocols for brain death certification, an area currently facing neglect. Addressing these issues is crucial to increasing organ donation rates and saving lives in India.

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