The State-level Indian Organ Donation Day will be marked on August 1 at Yenepoya Medical College Auditorium, Deralakatte, Mangaluru, to raise awareness and honour the spirit of giving life through organ donation.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao will inaugurate the event. Assembly Speaker UT Khader will preside, while Minister for Medical Education Dr Sharanprakash R Patil will also participate. The event is organized by SOTTO–Jeevan Sarthakathe, under the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Services.
As of July 30, Karnataka has recorded 43,221 organ donation pledges, with the Mangaluru division—covering Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere, Chikkamagaluru, and Shivamogga—ranking fourth in the state.
Between 2017 and June 30, 2025, Karnataka registered 979 organ donations, which included:
- 1,481 kidneys
- 812 livers
- 251 hearts
- 129 lungs
- 25 kidney-pancreas pairs
- 11 small intestines
- 44 liver-kidney combinations
- 396 heart valves
- 1,494 corneas
- 106 skin donations
- 2 hands
The Mangaluru division alone has facilitated 141 organ donations since 2019.
DHO Dr HR Thimmaiah said organs from brain-dead donors are retrieved at Non-Transplant Organ Retrieval Centres (NTORCs), set up in trauma units of district hospitals and government medical colleges. Wenlock District Hospital is a functional NTORC with several successful donations.
The government is establishing brain death declaration committees across districts. Under Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), transplant packages for BPL patients have been fixed. Approved transplant hospitals include Institute of Nephro-Urology (Bengaluru), KIMS (Hubballi), Jayadeva Institute (heart), and IGOT (liver).