Cyprus is hosting this year’s European Day for Organ, Tissue and Cell Donation, a Council of Europe initiative to inform the public about donation and transplantation, the health ministry has announced.
The official opening ceremony will be held on Friday, October 9, 2026, in Medieval Castle Square at the harbour in Paphos, and will be open to the public.
The event is organised by the Cypriot health ministry and the Transplant Council, with the support of the Karaiskakio Foundation and in cooperation with the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare of the Council of Europe.
This year’s event is dedicated to donors and their families, transplant recipients and the health professionals involved at every stage of the process. The ministry said the personal stories of people who gave or received the gift of life highlighted the value of donation and the hope it can offer patients and families.
The message of this year’s event in Cyprus is “Sharing lives”, which highlights the power of donation and of giving to others. Organ, tissue and cell donation can change the lives of people waiting for a transplant or a treatment, the ministry said, and is also an act of solidarity that touches whole families and society as a whole.
Figures for 1986-2026 show Cyprus’s record on transplants. In total, 1,171 kidney transplants were carried out in Cyprus, 773 from living donors and 398 from deceased donors. A further 181 transplants of solid organs were carried out abroad using organs offered from Cyprus.
Over the same period 1,108 donors were recorded, of whom 773 were living and 335 deceased. The ministry said the figures showed the lasting contribution of donors, and the importance of Cyprus’s cooperation with other countries in making use of every available transplant opportunity.
Cyprus also has a significant presence in voluntary bone marrow donation. More than 200,000 volunteers are registered on the Bone Marrow Donor Registry, which makes the Cypriot registry the first in the world in proportion to population. More than 1,000 volunteers have already donated a graft to patients in 36 countries, confirming that giving from Cyprus can cross the island’s borders and reach people in need in every corner of the world.
As part of the European Day, information activities will be held in schools and public spaces, along with direct contact with citizens across Paphos district. Landmark buildings will also be lit in green as a symbolic show of support for donation and transplantation.
The ministry said the European Day was an opportunity to inform the public and strengthen the discussion around donation. For the ministry, reliable information and trust are basic preconditions for an informed choice to donate.
