World Organ Donation Day is annually observed across the globe on 13th August to create awareness about the importance of organ donation and to encourage organ donation among the general public.
Organ donation is a process of surgically removing an organ or tissue from a person(donor) and placing it into another person(recipient).
Note:
India observes the annual National Organ Donation day on 27th November.
The national organ donation day is organised by the National Organ & Tissue Transplantation Organisation(NOTTO), under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
History of Transplantation:
i.The world’s first-ever organ transplantation(kidney transplantation) operation was conducted on 23rd December 1954. The transplant was performed on identical twins Ronald Lee Herrick(donor) and Richard Lee Herrick(recipient).
ii.Kidney was the first organ to be transplanted.
iii.Dr Joseph Murray, the lead surgeon of the operation won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1990.
iv.He shared the prize with Dr E. Donnall Thomas, who won the award for his work in bone marrow transplants.
Organ donation in India:
i.In India, the Transplantation Of Human Organs And Tissues Act, 1994 defines and regulates the transplantation and donation of 11 human organs and tissues of an alive donor or deceased person
ii.According to the World Health Organisation, only 0.01% of people in India donate their organs after death.
