ROTARIAN LAL GOEL PRESENTS TWO-YEAR ROADMAP TO POSITION KARNATAKA AS A NATIONAL LEADER IN ORGAN DONATION AND TRANSPLANTATION
Bengaluru, 22 October 2026: Rotarian Lal Goel, Founder and Charter President of the Rotary Club of Organ Donation International (RCODI), and Chairman of Organ Donation India Foundation and GYAN, attended a progress review meeting of the Executive Committee of the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO), Karnataka, held on 22 October 2026 at Arogya Soudha, Bengaluru.
Shri U. T. Khader, Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka, convened the meeting to review the state’s progress in organ donation, with particular emphasis on deceased organ donation and the measures needed to strengthen the transplantation ecosystem.
Karnataka Records Its Best-Ever Performance in Deceased Organ Donation
The committee noted with satisfaction that 2026 was emerging as Karnataka’s best year yet for organ donation. As of 17 October 2026, the state had recorded 207 organ donors, surpassing the 198 recorded in all of 2025. September 2026 witnessed 30 organ donations, the highest number recorded in a single month.
Karnataka also ranked third among Indian states in organ donation pledges, behind Rajasthan and Maharashtra, which ranked first and second, respectively.
While acknowledging this encouraging progress, the meeting emphasised the need to translate growing public awareness and pledges into more actual deceased organ donations and life-saving transplants.
Rotarian Lal Goel Presents a Two-Year Strategic Roadmap
During deliberations on strategies to increase deceased organ donation, Rotarian Lal Goel presented a comprehensive two-year roadmap titled “Karnataka: A National Leader in Organ Donation & Healthcare.”
The roadmap outlined four strategic pillars essential to transforming Karnataka’s organ donation and transplantation landscape:
Public Awareness: Building sustained, statewide awareness campaigns to encourage organ donation pledges and motivate families to support donation.
Infrastructure: Strengthening brain-death certification, organ retrieval and transplantation facilities across district hospitals and government medical colleges.
Financial Protection: Improving access to transplantation by reducing financial barriers, particularly for economically disadvantaged patients.
Religious and Community Engagement: Working with religious leaders, community organisations and civil society to address misconceptions, build trust and encourage organ donation.
The roadmap emphasised that increasing deceased organ donation requires a coordinated approach combining public participation, medical infrastructure, financial support and community leadership.
Decision to Form an Organ Transplant Visionary Committee
Following detailed deliberations, it was decided to constitute an Organ Transplant Visionary Committee to recommend strategic measures for strengthening public awareness, increasing deceased organ donation and expanding transplantation services across Karnataka.
The proposed committee’s priority areas will include:
Strengthening brain-death certification and organ retrieval at district hospitals and government medical colleges throughout the state.
Expanding transplantation facilities in government hospitals to improve access to life-saving treatment.
Expediting the launch of new organ allocation and tracking software to improve coordination, transparency and efficiency.
Renewing lapsed transplant registrations to ensure that eligible institutions can resume or continue transplantation services without unnecessary delays.
These measures are expected to help Karnataka build a more robust and accessible organ donation and transplantation system, with the long-term objective of saving more lives.
A Collective Commitment to Saving Lives
The meeting was chaired by the Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare and attended by senior officials of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, SOTTO officials and other stakeholders.
Rotarian Lal Goel thanked the Hon’ble Minister for his keen interest and leadership in strengthening organ donation and transplantation in Karnataka. He expressed confidence that sustained government action, supported by civil society organisations, healthcare professionals, community leaders and citizens, could help Karnataka emerge as a national leader in organ donation and healthcare.
He reiterated that while the state’s recent progress was encouraging, the ultimate measure of success would be the number of lives saved through timely organ donation and transplantation.
