AIIMS Delhi is preparing to launch India's 1st face transplant program
AIIMS Delhi is preparing to launch India's first face transplant program, with rollout expected within the next year (from March 2026), offering new hope to people with severe facial injuries from burns, trauma, acid attacks, or birth conditions—especially those who've already tried multiple surgeries without success.
This marks a big leap for reconstructive surgery in the country.
How the complex procedure works
The procedure uses skin, nerves, vessels, and bone from brain-dead donors and connects them to the recipient through intricate microsurgery.
It can restore basic things like breathing through the nose or even smiling again.
Each operation takes up to 16 hours and patients will need lifelong medication so their bodies don't reject the new tissue.
Transplants will be done after careful selection of patients
AIIMS's Department of Plastic, Reconstructive & Burns Surgery is operational and even trained with Harvard experts to match global standards.
Only a handful of face transplants have happened worldwide—mostly in the US—so this puts India on the map.
A team of doctors will carefully pick patients based on health and motivation to make sure they're ready for such a life-changing step.