Organ Donation Tattoos: 75 Clinic Employees in Münster Make a Statement

Seventy-five employees at the University Hospital Münster (UKM) received organ donation tattoos on their arms ahead of the official Organ Donation Day. Five tattoo artists inked the symbol of organ donation onto the employees, who could choose the location and size of the tattoo. The symbol depicts a semicircle completed by another semicircle.

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The interest in the campaign was great.

The initiative saw significant interest, with nearly 300 of the hospital's over 11,000 employees applying for one of the 75 available tattoo appointments. Ultimately, a lottery determined who received a tattoo.

Similar campaigns to draw attention to Organ Donation Day, observed on the first Saturday of June, have occurred in various locations over the past years. The "Opt.Ink" campaign was initiated by the association Junge Helden, which has been advocating for organ donation awareness since 2003.

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the people who are waiting for a donor organ are currently 1,700 people in NRW.

While a tattoo is not legally binding and does not replace an official organ donor card, it serves to signal the individual's willingness to donate and promote societal discussion and awareness, according to the Federal Institute for Public Health (BIÖG). In North Rhine-Westphalia, 1,700 people are currently awaiting organ transplants, compared to only 590 donations in 2025. Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann urged people to document their decision via an organ donor card or the organ donor register, noting that while willingness to donate is high, it is often not formally recorded. North Rhine-Westphalia is also advocating for the "opt-out" system in the Bundesrat, where all adults would be considered organ donors unless they actively object.

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the willingness to donate is high, but it is often not documented.