President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday appealed to prominent persons of the society to spread awareness about "voluntary donation" of body organs to decrease the number of deaths every year due to their unavailability and to end illegal marketing of body parts.

"Due to poverty, some people may be compelled to sell their body organs, and this is unacceptable. If we institute a culture of voluntary donation, then the illegal market will gradually come to an end," the President said while speaking at an event called "Dehdaniyon Ka Utsav" (organ donors' festival), organised here by the Dadhichi Deh Dan Samiti.Kovind appealed to doctors, teachers educational institutions and religious leaders to spread awareness about organ donation to decrease the number of deaths which, according to him, is nearly 500,000 every year.

"As per an estimated figure, 500,000 people die in our country due to unavailability of organs that can be transplanted. Of them, 200,000 suffer from liver diseases and 50,000 from cardiovascular diseases. In addition, approximately 150,000 people await kidney transplantation." He said organ donation was true to the ethos of our ancient civilisation."It is believed that Maharishi Dadhichi donated his body so that the Gods could make a weapon from his bones and defeat the evil forces. The thought that in our lifetime, or even after death, our body or body organs could be useful to or help treat another person is both humanistic and inspiring," the President said.