GLOBOCAN 2024 estimates place liver among the top five cancer sites in Nepal, alongside stomach, oesophagus, breast and cervix.
Source: IARC GLOBOCAN 2024 estimates for Nepal (released July 2026)Cost guide · Nepal · hepatobiliary & transplant
Liver transplant cost in India for Nepali patients
Liver transplant is the most demanding thing a family can organise across a border: a donor, a legal file, a long admission and a long stay afterwards. The cost question is real, but it is the fourth question, not the first.
- Living-donor only, in practice
- Donor workup runs in parallel, not after
- Plan for weeks after discharge, not days
Request a confidential case review WhatsApp the Nepal desk
General information for planning, not medical advice. Diagnosis and treatment decisions rest with the treating doctors and hospitals.
Why families travel for this
Liver disease is a significant and rising burden in Nepal, while transplant capacity remains concentrated in a very small number of units.
Nepal's national transplant centre was publicly marking the discharge of its 33rd liver transplant recipient in April 2025. That is a programme in the tens — meaningful and growing, but small against the disease burden.
Source: Shahid Dharmabhakta National Transplant Centre public notice, April 2025In decompensated liver disease the window is narrow. The practical argument for starting the file early is not commercial; it is that assessment takes weeks and the disease does not wait for it.
What the pathway involves
General description. The hepatologist and transplant surgeon decide suitability, timing and everything clinical.
- 01Recipient assessment
MELD or PELD scoring, imaging, cardiac and infection workup, and a judgement on whether transplant is the right answer at all — sometimes it is not, and that is a legitimate outcome of the review.
- 02Donor assessment
Blood group compatibility, liver volumetry, vascular anatomy and a full medical and psychological assessment of the donor. A significant share of willing donors are found unsuitable.
- 03Legal authorisation
As with kidney transplant, the donor–recipient relationship must be documented and cleared. Foreign nationals face additional attestation requirements.
- 04Surgery and ICU
A long operation for the recipient, a major operation for the donor, and an ICU period that dominates the early bill.
- 05The stay afterwards
Transplant units require the patient to remain nearby for a defined period. This, plus accommodation, is where cross-border families most often under-budget.
What actually moves the number
- How sick the recipient is at the time of transplant — MELD score is the shorthand for it
- Whether the donor is found suitable at first assessment or a second donor has to be worked up
- ICU days and ventilation requirement
- Biliary or vascular complications, which are the classic drivers of a longer stay
- Infection episodes during immunosuppression
- Length of the mandated post-discharge stay near the hospital
- Lifelong immunosuppressive medication after return to Nepal
What a written estimate usually covers
- Recipient and donor surgery, anaesthesia, ICU and ward stay as stated
- Standard pre-transplant assessment for both
- Immunosuppression during the admission
- Routine monitoring during the stated period
What sits outside it
- Extended ICU, re-exploration or complication management
- A second donor workup if the first is declined
- Accommodation for the family through assessment and post-discharge stay
- Long-term medication after discharge
We publish no prices on this page. Any figure quoted before a specialist has read your reports is a guess, and a guess is a bad thing to plan a family’s finances around. What we do instead is obtain the hospital’s own written estimate, in its own format, with its assumptions stated — before you decide whether to travel. See how CureYatra handles costs.
What to send us before anything else
Do not attach medical records to the form below. Send a short enquiry first and we will reply with secure sharing instructions and a written consent step.
- Hepatologist's summary and the current MELD or Child-Pugh assessment, if calculated
- Liver function tests over time, coagulation profile, and viral markers
- CT or MRI of the abdomen with the images, not just the report
- Endoscopy reports, and the record of any variceal bleed, ascites or encephalopathy episode
- Blood group and basic health details for every potential family donor
Case-coordination fee · Nepal
NPR 5,000 per patient, per year — coordination only.
Inclusive of applicable taxes. The first enquiry is free; the fee is requested only when you decide to proceed, together with the reports and record-sharing consent. Every hospital, doctor, medicine, implant, diagnostic and travel charge is separate and paid by you directly to the provider. Terms & Conditions apply.
Questions Nepali families ask
What does a liver transplant cost in India for a patient from Nepal?
The transplant unit issues its own written estimate after reviewing the recipient's and donor's reports. We deliberately publish no figure, because how sick the recipient is at surgery and whether the course is complicated can move the total substantially.
Is a deceased-donor liver transplant an option for a Nepali patient in India?
In practice, no. Deceased-donor allocation prioritises domestic patients, so cross-border cases are living-donor. Plan on the basis that a donor must be found within the family.
Who can be a donor?
A near relative with a compatible blood group, adequate liver volume and suitable anatomy, who clears medical and psychological assessment and whose relationship can be documented for the authorisation committee. Many willing donors do not clear assessment — it is worth identifying more than one candidate early.
How long should the family plan to stay in India?
Longer than the hospital admission. Ask the unit to state the required post-discharge period in writing before you book flights, and budget accommodation for it.
What does CureYatra do in this?
We organise the records, get suitable units to respond in writing, coordinate documents and travel, and stay with the case. We do not select your hospital for you, we are not paid by hospitals for your admission, and every medical bill is paid by you directly to the hospital.
Nepal patient desk · direct enquiry
Send your case from Nepal — the first enquiry is free.
Tell us the diagnosis area and how to reach you. A coordinator replies on WhatsApp or email, explains how to share reports securely, and only then are suitable hospitals asked for a written clinical plan and their own estimate.
- The first enquiry costs nothing. The NPR 5,000 annual case-coordination fee is requested only if you decide to proceed.
- No Indian visa for Nepali citizens entering from Nepal, subject to the official identity-document and route conditions.
- Nepali-language coordination, and consultations in English or Hindi.
- You pay the hospital directly against its own written invoice — never CureYatra.
- No hospital, price, timing or treatment outcome is guaranteed here; the hospital’s written documents always prevail.
पहिलो सम्पर्क निःशुल्क छ। रिपोर्ट पठाउनुहोस्, अस्पतालको लिखित उपचार योजना र खर्च अनुमान हामी मगाउँछौं।