World Organ Donation Day 2025: History, significance, and how you can become a donor

Every year, August 13 is observed as World Organ Donation Day. It is a day to remember the importance of organ donation, honour those who give this incredible gift, and clear the myths that stop many from registering as donors.

The date has a special historical link. In 1931, a man named Ronald Lee Herrick became the first person to successfully donate an organ. He gave one of his kidneys to his twin brother, Richard Herrick. The surgery, performed by doctors Joseph Murray and John Merrill, was groundbreaking. Many years later, in 1990, the two doctors won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work.

From that day to now, organ donation has saved countless lives. But in India, we still have a long way to go.

India’s place in the world of organ donation

India carried out its first successful organ donation on August 3, 1994. Since then, the country has made progress — according to reports, India now ranks third in the world for the total number of organ transplants, after the United States and China.

Yet, despite this achievement, the demand for organs in India is far greater than the supply. Thousands of people are on waiting lists, many of them in critical condition. Sadly, many die before they get a match.

The reason is not just a shortage of donors. There are misconceptions, cultural hesitations, and lack of awareness. Some people believe organ donation disfigures the body, or that their religion does not allow it — both of which are often untrue.

If more Indians pledged to donate their organs, the waiting lists could be much shorter, and many more lives could be saved.

What can you donate — and when?

Organ donation can happen in two ways — while you are alive or after your death.

When alive, a person can donate:

• One kidney

• One lung

• A part of the pancreas

• A part of the intestine

• A part of the liver

These donations are possible because the human body can function with one kidney, and certain organs like the liver can regenerate.

After death, a person can donate:

• Kidneys

• Pancreas

• Heart

• Liver

• Intestines

• Lungs

This means that, in theory, one person’s donation can save multiple lives. For example, a single donor’s organs could help a patient with heart failure, another with kidney failure, and another with lung disease — all at the same time.

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How to pledge your organs

The process is straightforward. The Organ Retrieval Banking Organization (ORBO) at AIIMS explains it clearly:

1. Pledge while alive — Fill out the organ donor form in the presence of two witnesses (one must be a family member).

2. After death — If you haven’t pledged during your lifetime, your family can still give consent for your organs to be donated.

You can download the pledge form from the ORBO website (orbo.org). Once completed, ORBO will issue you an organ donor card along with a registration number. This card is proof of your intent, and it makes the process easier if something happens to you.

The most important step after registering is to inform your family. Even with your donor card, hospitals will usually ask for the family’s consent. If your family is unaware of your decision, they might refuse.

Why this matters more than ever

Every organ donor is, in a way, a lifesaver. But in India, organ donation is still not seen as a normal part of giving back to society.

Consider this: thousands of people in India are currently waiting for a kidney transplant. A large number of them will not survive long enough to get one. At the same time, hundreds of potential organs are buried or cremated every day simply because no one gave permission to donate them.

In my opinion, this is not just a medical issue — it’s an ethical one. If your organs can give someone a few more decades of life, why take them to the grave?

The road ahead

To truly improve organ donation rates in India, we need:

• Awareness campaigns that reach rural as well as urban areas.

• Religious leaders to publicly support organ donation, helping break cultural fears.

• Better hospital infrastructure to retrieve, store, and transplant organs quickly.

• Clear laws and transparency so that people trust the system.

World Organ Donation Day should not be just about speeches and social media posts. It should be about pledging, informing families, and making the decision to give life to someone else even after we are gone.

The truth is simple — when you donate an organ, you live on in someone else’s heartbeat, someone else’s breath, someone else’s smile. And there can be no greater legacy than that.