Today, October 17, various events are taking place in many countries around the world on the occasion of World Organ Donation and Transplantation Day, UNN reports.

The world's first transplant in the modern sense, i.e. the implantation of organ tissue to replace the function of an organ, was performed in 1883 by Swiss surgeon and later Nobel Prize winner Theodor Kocher. He performed a thyroid transplant.

In 1954, American surgeon and future Nobel laureate Joseph Murray performed a successful kidney transplant. The donor for Marine Richard Herrick was his identical twin brother Ronald Herrick.

In 1967, surgeon Christian Barnard performed the world's first heart transplant in South Africa. The patient lived only 18 days afterwards, but this operation gave an important impetus to the development of transplantation, and today heart and many other organ transplants are commonplace.

According to the Ministry of Health, 585 organ transplants were performed in Ukraine in 2023. The number of bone marrow transplants has increased. In 2022 , 223 stem cell transplants were performed, and in 2023 - 340.

The number of people willing to become posthumous organ donors is gradually increasing in Ukraine.

The event was launched in 2011 to draw public attention to the causes and consequences of injuries and to raise awareness among adults and children about how to reduce the risk of injury and reduce the likelihood of fatalities.

According to the World Health Organization, various injuries cause the deaths of about six million people on the planet every year.

Since 1992, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been celebrated on October 16 at the initiative of the UN General Assembly

According to forecasts, by 2030 the number of children living in poverty will increase to 160 million.

Also today, on the third Thursday of October, we can celebrate International Credit Union Day.

It is believed that the first credit union was established in 1849 by Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen. It united residents of the village of Flammersfeld.

Today, there are more than 85,000 credit unions in the world, with nearly 400 million members.

On the third Thursday of October, many countries around the world hold various events to mark the International Earthquake Day.

The event was launched in the US state of California, where earthquakes are quite common, to teach people how to act properly during this natural disaster.

According to many emergency specialists, the most effective way to minimize injuries and fatalities during earthquakes is the “Drop, Cover and Hold” methodology.

According to the church calendar, today is the Day of Remembrance of the Martyrs Cosmas and Damian.

The twin brothers Cosmas and Damian lived in the third century, practiced medicine and preached the teachings of Jesus Christ.

During the intensification of the persecution of Christians, Cosmas and Damian were arrested and executed after brutal torture.

Demian, Andrii, Antonii, Lazar, and Leontii celebrate their name days on October 17.