World Organ Donation Day 2026

No One Dies Waiting for an organ transplant

A free global session with doctors, faith voices, donor families and people living with a transplant. Ahead of World Organ Donation Day on 13 August.

Sunday 9 August 2026
2:00pm BST
Free to watch
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2:00pm BST · 3:00pm CEST · 4:00pm Israel · 6:30pm India · 9:00am EDT
Where things stand

The gap between yes and said out loud.

Ask people directly and most say they would donate. Far fewer have joined a register. Fewer still have told the person who will actually be asked.

0
people on the active UK transplant waiting list
NHS Blood and Transplant
0
died waiting for a transplant in the UK in 2024/25
NHS Blood and Transplant
0
families who overruled a relative that had registered to donate
NHS Blood and Transplant
0
of global transplant need was met in 2024. Fewer than one person in ten who needs an organ receives one.
Global Observatory on Donation & Transplantation
A person makes one decision. That decision gives another person life.
One donor can transform many lives
About the session

Four hours. One question.

Under the opt-out law now running across all four UK nations, adults are treated as willing donors unless they record otherwise. That change was hard won and it matters. It did not remove the family from the room.

Specialist nurses still sit down with relatives and ask what their person would have wanted. When the family knows, the answer comes quickly. When they are guessing, on the worst night of their lives, they often say no. That is where most of the shortfall actually sits.

So this afternoon has a small and achievable aim. Nobody here will try to talk you into anything. The job is to move a private, vague, generally positive feeling into one spoken sentence at a kitchen table, where it can do some good.

Every view is welcome here, hesitation included. Nobody watching will be told what to decide.

A family talking together around a kitchen table over cups of chai
One donor can transform many lives

One decision. Eight people.

Heart, lungs, liver, two kidneys, pancreas, small bowel. One person who has said yes can reach eight others waiting, and tissue donation reaches many more again.

HeartLungsLiverKidneys PancreasSmall bowelCorneasTissue

Eight is the figure carried on this year's campaign artwork. NHS Blood and Transplant's own wording is that a single donor can save up to nine lives. Either way, the point holds.

On the programme

What we will actually talk about.

01

What really happens

The transplant process explained in plain language by the clinicians who do it, including the parts people are most afraid to ask about.

02

Donor families

The decision itself, and what living with it looks like years later. In their own words, at their own pace.

03

On the other side

People who are alive because a stranger's family said yes. What a second chance actually feels like once the novelty wears off.

04

Faith and belief

What the major traditions actually teach, drawn from faith voices rather than assumption. Reservations included, not skirted around.

05

Living donation

Giving a kidney, or part of a liver, while you are alive and well. Over forty per cent of UK donations now come from living donors.

06

The law, honestly

Opt-out across the UK, priority registration in Israel, and why India performs record numbers of transplants with very few deceased donors.

A woman standing outdoors in morning sunlight with her face turned to the sun

An ordinary Tuesday

What a transplant gives back is not drama. It is the school run, a walk without stopping, a birthday nobody expected you to see. That is what is actually waiting at the end of the conversation.

The whole ask

Three things. The third is the one that counts.

Tap each step as you do it

Voices

Who you will hear from.

Twelve voices across the afternoon, from the UK, India and Rotary International. All times British Summer Time.

A diverse group of people of different ages and faiths standing together outdoors
2:00pmOpening
Kirit Mistry, Senior Producer and Founder of South Asian Health Action UK

Kirit Mistry

Senior Producer and Founder of South Asian Health Action UK

Faith campaigns to embrace organ donation

Amrita Sharma, Senior Host, Healing Our Earth

Amrita Sharma

Senior Host, Healing Our Earth

The journey to equity in organ donation and transplantation: the role of religion and culture

Gurch Randhawa, Professor of Diversity in Public Health and Director

Gurch Randhawa

Professor of Diversity in Public Health and Director

The journey to equity in organ donation and transplantation: the role of religion and culture

2:05pmWelcome
Olayinka Hakeem Babalola, President 2026/27, Rotary International

Olayinka Hakeem Babalola

President 2026/27, Rotary International

Welcome from the Rotary International President, by video message

2:40pm
Dr Sunil Shroff, MOHAN Foundation, India

Dr Sunil Shroff

MOHAN Foundation, India

Organ donation and saving lives over the last 29 years

3:10pm
Sunayana Singh, CEO, ORGAN · Parashar Foundation Country Rep (India) · WTGF

Sunayana Singh

CEO, ORGAN · Parashar Foundation Country Rep (India) · WTGF

Team India 2027: a journey beyond survival

3:40pm
Capt Amarjeet Sangwan, Charter President, Rotary Club Jaipur Organ Donation

Capt Amarjeet Sangwan

Charter President, Rotary Club Jaipur Organ Donation

Club with a mission: the journey of Rotary Club Jaipur Organ Donation

Dr Tarun Sethi, Secretary, Rotary Club Jaipur Organ Donation, India

Dr Tarun Sethi

Secretary, Rotary Club Jaipur Organ Donation, India

Club with a mission: the journey of Rotary Club Jaipur Organ Donation

4:10pm
Kishor Suryawanshi, Founder, Chhaya Kidney Foundation

Kishor Suryawanshi

Founder, Chhaya Kidney Foundation

Don't retire after transplant. Re-fire after transplant

4:20pm
Rtn Bhal Chilana, Founder and President, The Cause Travellers Social Welfare Organisation

Rtn Bhal Chilana

Founder and President, The Cause Travellers Social Welfare Organisation

Organ donation awareness: India to the UK

5:00pm
Rtn Lal Goel, Rotary Club of Organ Donation International

Rtn Lal Goel

Rotary Club of Organ Donation International

Rotary and organ donation, worldwide

5:45pmClosing
Kirit Mistry, Founding Charter President 2025/26, Rotary e-Club of Organ Donation UK

Kirit Mistry

Founding Charter President 2025/26, Rotary e-Club of Organ Donation UK

Building satellite e-clubs for organ donation in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

Together, we create hope and save lives

Brought to you by.

Healing Our Earth
Host
Healing Our Earth
Global health for all
Rotary Club of Organ Donation International
Partner
Rotary Club of Organ Donation International
Create Lasting Impact
Rotary Theme
Create Lasting Impact
Rotary Club of Organ Donation UK
Partner
Rotary Club of Organ Donation UK
South Asian Health Action
Episode Producer
South Asian Health Action

Join Us Live Sunday, from 2pm BST

Free, open to everyone, no registration. Bring the person you have been meaning to have this conversation with.

Episode Producer
Kirit Mistry · South Asian Health Action
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This session is for awareness and education. It is not medical advice. For guidance on your own health or transplant care, please speak to your clinical team. Figures shown are from NHS Blood and Transplant and the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation.

Sun 9 Aug · 2pm BSTFree & global
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World Organ Donations Day – No one Dies Waiting For Organ Transplant

FREE Global Online Session 

Sunday 9th August 2026

2 pm BST onwards

(British Summer Time)

(All times are in BST (British Summer Time))