Survey Reveals Serious Gaps in Brain Death Certification Training for Indian Medical Specialists
India’s rate of deceased organ donation remains one of the lowest globally, at just 0.7 donations per million people — a stark contrast to the 40–50 per million observed in countries like Spain and the United States.
- By Newsdesk
- New Delhi
- Oct 06, 2025
A recent study conducted by doctors from AIIMS Delhi in collaboration with medical experts across India has revealed that most neurosurgeons, neurologists, and critical care specialists in the country receive little to no formal training during their MBBS on certifying brain death — a crucial step in facilitating organ donation.
The survey, which included 177 specialists, found that less than half had been trained in brain-death certification as part of their undergraduate curriculum. Alarmingly, 37.3% reported that their medical institutions lack any structured curriculum on brainstem death certification (BDC), and only about 10% said their resident doctors receive regular training on the process.
Among those surveyed, nearly three-fourths work in teaching hospitals — with 51.4% employed in public institutions and 24.9% in private ones. Despite their seniority and institutional backing, 22.6% of these specialists admitted that they never train their residents in brain-death certification or organ donation procedures.
The study identified several persistent barriers to effective brain-death declaration and organ donation in India, including poor public awareness, frequent refusal of consent by families, lack of transplant facilities in some hospitals, reluctance or hesitation among clinicians to declare brain death, and religious or cultural beliefs that discourage organ donation.
India’s rate of deceased organ donation remains one of the lowest globally, at just 0.7 donations per million people — a stark contrast to the 40–50 per million observed in countries like Spain and the United States.
Experts emphasized that consistent and structured training in brainstem death certification is vital to strengthening India’s organ donation framework. The study urged medical councils and policymakers to integrate standardized BDC training into undergraduate and postgraduate medical programs while simultaneously improving awareness among healthcare professionals and the public. Strengthening institutional infrastructure and clarifying legal and ethical processes around brain-death declaration, they added, could significantly increase the number of lives saved through organ transplants.