Chandigarh, Oct. 23 -- Around 6,000 kidney failure patients, awaiting transplant from outside the family, are currently on the waitlist at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) due to difficulty in finding a match. What's more shocking is that the average wait time for such patients may stretch up to eight years.

This was revealed during a training programme on deceased (cadaveric) organ donation, titled 'Continuum - The Continuity of Life', organised by the Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation North (ROTTO-N) and PGIMER on Thursday.

Speaking at the event, Dr Ashish Sharma, head of the department of renal transplant surgery, said more than 80,000 patients are listed for kidney transplant on ...