Yesterday was World Organ Donation Day - a day dedicated towards raising awareness about the life-saving act of organ donation.

Locally, the day was marked by Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Ian Borg as he registered to be an organ donor himself.

"By registering as organ donors today, we are saving lives in the future - perhaps the greatest legacy we can leave behind," Borg said, as he expressed his admiration for registered donors, deceased multi-organ donors, as well as living donors who donate a kidney or part of their liver to patients in need of a transplant. 

Established in 2016, Malta's National Human Organ and Tissue Donation Register currently includes 30,548 registered organ donors. Over the past two and a half years, more than 2,410 persons joined the register, following several awareness initiatives by the health authorities, the Transplant Support Group and other organisations.  

The recent introduction of secure online registration through organdonation.gov.mt has made the process even easier, allowing people to register in just a few minutes using their e-ID. 

The importance of organ donation cannot be understated.

 In 2024, 8,591 patients across Europe died while awaiting an organ transplant, underscoring the pressing need for more registered donors. That is the equivalent of 23 people every single day.

It is estimated that each organ donor can save up to eight lives after they pass away, as their main vital organs will be saved for transplantation.  It is one of the most impactful and selfless decisions that any individual can take.

One of the last acts of Parliament before the calling of the last general election was to unanimously approve changes to Malta's organ donation laws which now allow organs to be retrieved from an individual following circulatory death rather than only after brain death.

Malta's laws previously only permitted organ donation after what is termed as "brain death" - which is when all brain activity will have irreversibly ceased. 

The new legal amendments mean that now, organs can be retrieved once the heart and lungs permanently stop functioning - which is circulatory death.

The then-Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela had estimated that the reform could increase organ donations by up to 50%, particularly benefiting patients awaiting kidney transplants.

Discussions on there being an 'opt-out' system - which means that anyone older than 16 would be presumed to have given consent for their organs to be donated, unless they specifically opt out - in the new law ultimately did not lead anywhere, as experts said that it would have little effect on the number of donors.

That makes awareness of this cause all the more important: an organ transplant can, and will save lives.  There are people who are waiting for a second chance and the key to giving them the best chance at that is in our hands as individuals.

Organ donation is one of the most beautiful things that people can do. Even in death, we can continue to bring hope and to bring renewed life to others. 

Many people have a desire to leave something behind after their passing - a legacy, of sorts.  There is no better legacy than having saved the lives of others.