New Delhi, Nov 27 : India now ranks third in the world in organ donation and transplantation as the total number of organ transplants done per year in the country has increased to 12,746 in the year 2019, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) Mansukh Mandaviya said here on Saturday Mandaviya was citing a report by Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation (GODT). "It makes me immensely proud to share that the total number of organ transplants done per year in the country has increased from 4,990 in the year 2013 to 12,746 in the year 2019 and India now ranks third in the world only behind USA and China as per the data available on the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation (GODT) website," he said while addressing the 12th Indian Organ Donation Day in the presence of Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar. "Similarly, the organ donation rate has increased to about four times as compared to 2012-13. However, we are still facing a huge gap between the number of patients requiring transplantation and the number of people who consent to donate their organs after death. Further, the organ donation and transplantation activities have been negatively impacted due to Covid-19 pandemic which we hope to leave behind soon," he added. Linking the act of organ donation to the Indian values, he said, "Our culture puts emphasis on 'Shubh' and 'Laabh' where individual well-being is rooted with the greater good of the community. Society is fast changing and with the sanctity and preciousness of each and every life becoming visible to all, soon people who have committed 'Angdaan' will be viewed with the same respect accorded to those who give away hard earned wealth to charity." Since the year 2010, Indian Organ Donation Day is celebrated every year to commemorate the contributions made to society by deceased donors and their families. At the event, the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (SOTTO) of Maharashtra won the award for the highest number of deceased donors transplantations while Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (ROTTO) for the Western Region was recognised for best performance. /IANS