This week is Organ Donation Week 2023 (Monday 18th - Sunday 24th September)! Organ Donation Week is the perfect time for people to confirm their support for organ donation by adding their name and decision to the NHS Organ Donor Register.
What is organ donation?
Organ donation is when you decide to give an organ to save or transform the life of someone else.
You can donate some organs while you are alive, and this is called living organ donation.
However, most organ and tissue donations come from people who have died.
Who can become an organ donor?
There is no age limit for becoming an organ donor, children can be registered by their parents/guardians, and they can register themselves. Children who are under 12 in Scotland, and under 18 in the rest of the UK will require agreement from their parent/guardian
Having an illness or medical condition doesn’t necessarily prevent a person from becoming an organ or tissue donor. There are only a few conditions where organ donation is ruled out completely; including Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), Ebola Virus, active cancer & HIV (in rare cases, the organs of donors with HIV have been used to help others with the same conditions. If you live with HIV and wish to be a donor, you should register to donate)
Someone with current active cancer cannot become an organ donor, but it may be possible for people with certain types of cancer to donate after 3 years of treatment. It may also be possible to donate corneas and some tissue in these circumstances
It is still possible to be an organ donor if you smoke
Having a tattoo does not prevent you from being a donor
Drinking alcohol does not prevent you from becoming an organ donor, although a heavy alcohol intake may affect your ability to donate some organs
Donors are needed from all communities and ethnicities. Blood and tissue types need to match for a transplant to be successful, and organs from donors of the same ethnic background as the recipient are more likely to be a close match. Find out more about why ethnicity matters in organ donation
You could still potentially be an organ donor, even if you can’t give blood. There may be specific reasons why you can’t donate blood such as having had a blood transfusion or blood products since 01/01/1980. Sometimes a simple thing like a cold or medication that you are taking can prevent you from donating blood.
The decision about whether some or all organs or tissue are suitable for transplant is always made by a medical specialist at the time of donation, taking into account your medical history.
You can find out more about organ donation here: