Kidney exchange in India at a national scale: a growing consensus

There's growing consensus in India on moving towards a nationwide kidney exchange program. 

Kute V, Kumar A, Balwani M et al.
Operational guidelines for kidney swap transplantation in India: an ISOT-NOTTO Delphi consensus
The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia, 2026; 0 

 

 

 Among the consensus recommendations is this one, which summarizes the general positive tone adopted for national kidney exchange.

"Each transplant center should initiate and expand swap transplantation, given that it is legal, cost-effective, yields better outcomes, and can help prevent unethical commercial transplants by improving access. Multicentric swap transplantation programmes should roll out in phases: start with intra-city exchanges, then intra-state, and eventually inter-state and national collaborations. This phased approach ensures growing scale is matched with operational readiness, providing safe, equitable, and efficient transplants across regions."