I wanted to share this article that was recently posted on UNOS' website (United Network for Organ Sharing.
Release Date:
10/08/2008
U.S. Transplant Waiting List Passes 100,000
As of Oct. 6, 2008, more than 100,000 people were registered awaiting an organ transplant from a deceased donor at U.S. transplant centers. This is the first time that threshold has been exceeded.
The kidney is the organ most commonly needed and most commonly transplanted. More than 400,000 people in the United States are being treated for end-stage kidney failure, and of those more than 76,000 are listed for a deceased donor kidney transplant. The kidney waiting list has increased by 42 percent since January 2004, while the liver list has decreased by four percent and the heart list has decreased by 23 percent over the same time period.
This occurs at a time when the overall number of transplants has increased more than 11 percent since 2003, and reported deaths on the transplant wait list have decreased each year since 2004. Yet this milestone serves as a reminder to us all of the growing need, and of the opportunity for society to help meet the need through donation.
Many efforts continue to increase organ donation and recover as many usable organs as possible from these donors. These include HRSA-sponsored collaboratives to identify and share best practices, ongoing awareness campaigns such as those conducted by Donate Life America, and numerous professional education and community-based awareness initiatives.
NOTE: At any given moment, not all patients who are listed are actively awaiting a transplant. Those who are in inactive status have been evaluated and accepted by a transplant center. They are not actively eligible for an organ offer due to their current health status, incomplete insurance/financial arrangements or other reasons. These individuals could be reactivated by their transplant center at any time without losing priority for an organ offer. Both active and inactive candidates are reflected in statistics of those who die awaiting transplantation (nearly 6,700 in 2007).
http://www.unos.org/news/newsDetail.asp?id=1165
As of 12:13pm EST today, 100,535 people in the U.S. are awaiting an organ transplant....
It is SO EASY to become an organ donor. Visit your local DMV office, and they can get your signed up.
THE BASIC FACTS
• On average eighteen people die everyday in the U.S. while awaiting a lifesaving organ transplant."
• The total number of patients waiting for an organ transplant today numbers more than 100,000. More than one-third of them will die before a donor can be found.
• The waiting list for organ transplants is growing at the rate of 1,000 per month. Another name is added to the waiting list every 13 minutes.
• A total of 28,352 organ transplants were performed in the United States during 2007.
• Yet in 2007, there were only 8,087 people who donated one or more organs upon death. There were another 6,306 living organ donors.
• In 2007, 6,411 Americans - one every 90 minutes - died while waiting for a transplant.
• The refusal rate among families of potential donors nationwide is around 50 percent. However, a recent Gallup poll found 93% of respondents willing to donate a deceased family member's organs if he or she had expressed this wish prior to death. It is very important to sighn up on the Daonate Life California Regisrty. Either through the DMV when you apply for or renew you driver license.
• Transplantation is no longer considered experimental. It is a desired treatment for thousands with end-stage organ disease. Each year, approximately 900,000 Americans receive tissue transplants and mor than 28,000 receive organ transplants.
• In recent years, medical breakthroughs have greatly improved the success rate for transplantation... it now generally runs in excess of 80% for transplants overall.
• Currently, only about 8,000 of the approximately 15,000 medically suitable potential donors actually donate each year. Only about one third of the donation potential is being realized.
• Under ideal conditions, one donor can supply as many as 8 organs (heart, 2 lungs, liver, pancreas, 2 kidneys, and intestine). At today's average recovery rate, the current pool of potential donors could meet the needs of up to 50,000 people per year.
Also, to dispel some myths and misconceptions:
• Becoming a donor will not affect the quality of your medical care. Organ recovery takes place only after all efforts to save your life have been exhausted, and 2 doctors have declared you legally brain dead. The donor family pays none of the costs associated with donation. If you are a donor, you can have an open casket funeral.
• Transplants are accessible and available to everyone. Celebrity status and wealth do not enter into the equation. Organs are allocated according to medical criteria (urgency of medical need, blood/tissue type, height and weight).
• All major religions support or permit donation and consider it a gift, an act of charity.
