Organ Donation Day: History, Theme, and Significance
Organ Donation Day is celebrated every year on 13 August in India and various countries of the world. To understand the importance of organ donation in a person’s life as well as to encourage the common man to donate organs, this day is celebrated every year by the government organization and people related to other businesses. According to Organdoner.gov, the government gateway for information on donation, 18 people die in the United States each day waiting for an organ.
Theme of Organ Donation Day 2022
Organ Donation Day is celebrated every year on 13 August in India and various countries of the world. There is no specific theme for the day.
Quick facts Organ Donation
Here are quick facts about organ donation:
- Eduard Konrad Zirm was an Austrian ophthalmologist who performed the first successful human full-thickness corneal transplant on 7 December 1905.
- In 1948, India had its first cornea transplant. In Chennai’s Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital, Dr RES Muthayya established the nation’s first eye bank.
- The first kidney transplant was performed by Dr Richard Lawler on June 17, 1950. Ruth Tucker, 49, was the recipient and the donor had passed away. Approximately 40 doctors observed the one-hour surgery. Some 10 months later, the kidney was removed due to rejection. However, Ruth was able to survive on her own kidney for another five years as a result of those 10 months.
- A 19-month-old girl named Julie Rodriguez underwent the first ever deceased donor liver transplant in 1967 under the care of Dr Thomas Starzl. Known as the ‘father of transplantation,’ he made a significant contribution to the field.
- On December 3, 1967, Dr Christiaan Bernard Denise performed the first ever heart transplant on 53-year-old Lewis Washkansy in South Africa. Denis Darvall was the donor. Due to the immunosuppressant drugs that he was given, Washkansy developed double pneumonia and died 18 days later. Until his death, his new heart had functioned normally.
History of Organ Donation Day
The first-ever organ donation was done in 1954 when Ronald Lee Herrick donated a kidney to his identical twin brother. Doctor Joseph Murray conducted the procedure for which he has also won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1990 for advances in organ transplantation.
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