Media

More than 500 New Zealanders were waiting for a corneal transplant to restore their vision at the end of last year, yet just 115 people donated eye tissue in 2025 – a shortfall so significant that eye specialists regularly have to source donated corneas from overseas to meet demand.  

Organ Donation New Zealand has released its 2025 Annual Activity Review, sharing the national donation figures behind almost 300 lifesaving and life-changing organ and tissue donations facilitated across Aotearoa during the year.

This March, Organ Donation New Zealand (ODNZ) is encouraging Kiwis to have important conversations – about kidney health, and about organ donation.

We invite you to join us for our Thanksgiving service, in recognition of all those connected to donation and transplantation. We also welcome you to share in afternoon tea following the service.

The ODNZ Annual Activity Report 2024 has been published today. It contains a wealth of information, stories and elegantly-presented data that all provide insight into the challenging but invaluable work that ODNZ undertook over the last year.

This year, the Christchurch Thanksgiving service is being held in the Great Hall at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, on Sunday 18th of May at 1:30pm.

New Zealanders choosing to pursue Assisted Dying for their terminal conditions have shown some interest in donating their organs as well. We talk about when, and how, it can be done.

Organ and tissue donors saved hundreds of lives in 2023

2022 Annual Report Organ Donation New Zealand (ODNZ) has released its annual report today sharing New Zealand’s national organ donation figures for the last 12 months.

Organ Donation New Zealand and Kidney Health New Zealand want you to have THE Conversation this National Kidney MonthDonating an organ may not be your typical dinner table conversation, but Organ Donation New Zealand and Kidney Health New Zealand are hoping to change that.

Milestones, memories & mokopuna:
‘Thank you’ for a life made possible through organ donationDonating organs and tissues is an incredible act of kindness that can transform lives.

In 2021 there were 66 people who donated organs following death. This enabled 191 recipients to receive life-saving kidney, liver, lung, heart or pancreas transplants. Many more people received tissue transplants (cornea, sclera, heart valves and skin) from these donors.

Organ donation is only possible in a small proportion of all deaths in New Zealand. However, when donation can occur, one donor has the potential to help up to ten people through the donation of organs and tissues.

In 2020, thanks to the generosity of 64 deceased organ donors and their families, 186 people were able to receive life saving and life changing heart, lung, liver, kidney or pancreas transplants.

Guidelines for reporting on organ and tissue donation, including appropriate language and frequently used terminology.

New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) welcomes Organ Donation New Zealand (ODNZ) to the Service from Monday, November 30, in a move to support and further develop the work of ODNZ and New Zealand hospital staff which has seen a substantial increase in organ and tissue donation in recent years.

In the past decade the number of deceased organ donors in New Zealand has been steadily increasing. In 2019 there were 74 deceased organ donors, almost double that of 2010 (41 donors).

Organ Donation New Zealand's 2019 annual report

It was an emotional return to the ASB Auckland Marathon yesterday for heart transplant recipient Keith Eades when he, along with 30 others, walked and ran the John West 12km Traverse in memory of fellow transplant recipient Diane Plimmer.

This August more than 2000 participants from over 60 countries will descend on Newcastle Gateshead in the North East of England for the inspirational World Transplant Games.

Organ Donation New Zealand's 2018 annual report.

 

Each year the lives of many New Zealanders are saved and transformed through the generosity of organ and tissue donors and their families.

Organ Donation New Zealand's 2017 annual report.  

 In 2017 there were a record number of deceased organ donations in New Zealand. The total of 73 organ donors represents a 102% increase over the past five years. At 15.

Organ Donation New Zealand's annual report 2016.  

“The reason why organ donation is so important to me and my family is because without the amazing gift of life I would not have my husband.”

Annual Reports 2015 - 2005

Organ transplantation benefits recipients nationally, and is dependent on organ donation

Dr Emma Merry can still remember how nervous she felt the first time she spoke to a grieving family about the possibility of donating their loved one's organs.

New Zealand has one of the developed world's lowest organ donation rates, sparking concern more must be done to save lives.

New Zealand has one of the world's lowest organ donation rates, sparking concerns more needs to be done to save lives. In a four-part series, Susan Edmunds explores the importance of having a life-giving conversation with your loved ones.

Latest figures show organ donation and transplantation increased in New Zealand in 2014.

The numbers 173, 100 and 299 will seem like random numbers to many, but for three Blenheim people they are a constant reminder of the gift of life.

It was not so long ago that Wes Fry would struggle to get around a supermarket.

Drinking coffee could now spark a conversation about donating your organs or tissue.

Jorden Edmonds-Griffiths wasn't expected to compete in yesterday's North Shore Weet-Bix TRYathlon.

A year ago, 46-year-old Darren Wilcock couldn’t walk to his letterbox without having to sit down and recover afterwards.

Double lung transplant patient Katherine Harris will be lining up for this year’s Ports of Auckland Round the Bays event on March 9 in a bid to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Auckland branch.

All students who apply for their driver’s licence are required to answer “yes” or “no” as to whether they are willing to donate their organs in the event of their death – a subject that can touch the lives of anybody at any time without warning.

I vividly remember the day my life was changed forever.

Organ recipient Danny Saunders and fashion designer Trelise Cooper speak to Breakfast about organ donation.

Rotorua's Danny Saunders is a man on a mission after having his lungs transplanted.

Not talking to family about organ donation can have "devastating" effects, a Timaru man says.

Trelise Cooper, one of New Zealand’s most successful fashion designers, is a major sponsor of an upcoming car show to raise awareness for organ donation.

An operation that involved four people being cut open in separate hospitals, and kidneys flying past each other high above the North Island, has given two people a new lease of life.

Rotorua transplant recipients have marked the country's inaugural Thank You Day by planting freesia bulbs in Kuirau Park.