World Organ Donation Day 2026: Kidney, liver, heart or cornea - Which organs can be donated and under what circumstances?
Are you planning to become an organ donor? Read on to know which organs you can actually donate and which ones you cannot.
Organ donation is considered one of the noblest gifts of humanity. The organ donation process is a highly coordinated, time-sensitive medical and legal procedure designed to safely transfer healthy organs from a donor to a patient experiencing organ failure. Organs of the kidney, liver, heart, and cornea can be donated. Kidneys, liver, and heart are vital organs typically donated after brain death, while the cornea is classified as a tissue that can be donated even after natural death.
Which Organs Can Be Donated After Death?
In an exclusive interaction with TheHealthSite.com, Dr. Shashidhar Shree Niwas, Clinical Director & HOD, Nephrology and Renal Transplantation, Marengo Asia Hospitals, Gurugram, explained that the kidney, full or part of the liver, cornea, and heart can be donated after declaration and certification of brain death (declared by the brain death committee).
A liver and kidney are donated in either a living or deceased state. Heart and cornea donation happens after death. In cornea donation, the whole eye is not needed but only the frontal part, which is transparent, and the brown-black part is removed.
How Does The Organ Donation Process Work In India?
Now the question that arises is how the organ donation process works in India. Explaining the same, Dr Niwas said that organ donation can provide life after death. "By donating, one donor can save multiple lives and give hope to many families. We can say you can donate organs and tissues to help save or improve the lives of others. Age is not a barrier to making a difference in someone's life. The deceased donor process is initiated when a potential donor comes into the picture in the case of brain death and nonsurvivability. This is followed by consent (doctors check if the person signed a donor registry or pledge card in life)."
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), organ donation is the medical act of giving a healthy organ or tissue to someone who has organ failure. It saves lives and can be done by a living person or after death. "Transplantation involves replacing non-functional cells, tissues or organs with healthy counterparts that are obtained from another individual through voluntary donation during their lifetime or after their death".
What Happens After Brain Death Is Declared?
Family consent is also required before retrieval and authorization by family members; further on medical evaluation for tests to check health status and risk assessment of both donor and multiple potential recipients are called into play. After legal formalities are done organ retrieval process is initiated by different surgical teams for liver, kidney, heart and cornea. After this preservation of organs in specialised solution and temperature, and organs are transported to different allocated hospitals. Kidney is most frequently donated organ.
Total organ transplantation transplants performed in 2025 is approximately twenty thousand procedures performed nationwide. However, the active waiting list is in 2026 is ranging above 89,000 - (people waiting for a donor). Out of this deceased donor share, approximately 18% only of all recorded transplants utilize organs from deceased donors.
Living Donor Liver Transplant: Can The Liver Regenerate?
Liver transplantation is a potential treatment for acute or chronic conditions that cause irreversible and severe end-stage liver dysfunction. In kidney transplantation it is done in ESRD (END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE). The liver has a unique ability to regenerate. Living donor livers usually regenerate after donation.
The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is an apex organization for implementing the National Organ Transplant Program (NOTP) and carrying out activities as per the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA) 1994. NOTTO provides an efficient and organized system of organ procurement and distribution in the country. and maintains the national registry of donors and recipients of organs and tissues.
Last year more than 5 lakhs people pledged to donate organs. In a vast country like ours, many more people are needed to come forward for actual donations because the need is immense and sufferings due to end-organ failure are massive.
The public awareness campaign should focus on registering your decision, discussing it amongst family members, and explaining to them their wishes. However, final eligibility criteria are decided by the medical team as per prevailing law and transplant protocol.
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