Social Impact · Service Notes
Organ Donation Pledge Drives: Breaking the Taboo
One deceased donor can save up to eight lives, yet India's donation rate is still under one per million people. The barrier is rarely medical. It is conversation.
Of all the awareness work we do, organ donation is the hardest conversation to start, and the one that can matter most. We have run pledge drives encouraging people to register as donors and, just as importantly, to tell their families.
The gap
India has made real progress. Total organ transplants rose from 4,990 in 2013 to 18,910 in 2024. India now ranks third in the world for transplants. But most of those are from living donors. The number of deceased donors was 1,128 in 2024, a rate of about 0.81 per million people.
At the 2025 Indian Organ Donation Day, health officials said over 63,000 people were waiting for kidney transplants and 22,000 for liver transplants. As the Health Minister put it, one person can save up to eight lives through organ donation.
Why people hesitate
From conversations at our drives, the hesitation is rarely medical. It is usually one of these:
- Religious or cultural worries about the body after death.
- Mistrust: a fear that doctors will not try as hard to save a registered donor.
- Discomfort with talking about death at all.
- Not knowing how: no idea where to pledge or what it means.
What works in a pledge drive
- Make it easy. Help people register on the official NOTTO pledge portal, or with Jeevandan AP, on the spot.
- Start with the family conversation. At the time of donation, the family's consent is what matters. A pledge the family doesn't know about often goes unused. We ask every pledger to tell at least one family member that day.
- Use trusted voices. Doctors, teachers, religious leaders and donor families answer questions more convincingly than any poster.
- Answer the myths directly. Explain what brain death means and how donation is regulated by law.
- Honour donor families. Their decision, made in their worst moment, is an act of great generosity.
A personal note
Pledging is easy. The hard part is living in a society where talking about death is uncomfortable. Every pledge drive is really an attempt to make that conversation normal. If you take one thing from this piece, register your pledge and then tell your family tonight.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I pledge to donate organs in India?
- Adults can register a pledge on the NOTTO portal (notto.abdm.gov.in). In Andhra Pradesh, Jeevandan also offers a donor card. Most importantly, tell your family, because their consent matters at the time of donation.
- How many organ transplants happen in India?
- Total transplants rose from 4,990 in 2013 to 18,910 in 2024, and deceased donors from 340 to 1,128, but the deceased donation rate is still only about 0.8 per million population.
- How many lives can one donor save?
- According to the Union Health Minister, one person can save up to eight lives through organ donation, and many more through tissue donation.