World Organ Donation Day - 13 August 2024

Tags: Important Days

World Organ Donation Day is observed annually on 13 August across the globe.

An Overview of the News

• The day aims to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation.

• It encourages people to become organ donors and promote organ donation to save lives.

• The theme/slogan for World Organ Donation Day 2024 is "Be the Reason for Someone's Smile Today!"

History of World Organ Donation Day

• The first temporarily successful transplant of a human kidney was performed by Jean Hamburger in Paris in 1953.

• A kidney was transplanted from the mother to a 16-year-old child.

• However, the first long-term successful kidney transplant was performed in the US in 1954.

• This successful transplant was performed by Dr. Joseph Murray.

• For this, Dr. Joseph Murray received the "Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine" in the year 1990.

History of Indian Organ Donation Day

• Indian Organ Donation Day was originally celebrated on the 27th of November from 2010 to 2022.

• The day was initiated by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

• In 2023, the date was shifted to August 3rd.

• The change commemorates the success of the first deceased heart transplant in India, which took place on August 3rd, 1994.