Facts

“Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another’s pain,
life is not in vain.”
– Helen Keller

 

Organ donation and transplantation statistics

 

THE NEED:

 

As of August 31, 2012:

  • There are currently 115,193 people waiting for lifesaving organ transplants in the U.S.
    Of these, 93,148 await kidney transplants.
  • Last year, 16,812 kidney transplants took place in the U.S. Of these, 11,043 kidney transplants came from deceased donors and 5,769 came from living donors.
  • On average:
    • Nearly 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list each month.
    • 13 people die each day while waiting for a life-saving transplant
    • Every 10 minutes someone is added to the transplant list
  • Last year, 4,903 patients died while waiting for a kidney transplant.
  • Acceptable organ donors can range in age from newborn to 65 years or more.
  • Donor organs are matched to waiting recipients by a national computer registry called the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). This computer registry is operated by an organization known as the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which is located in Richmond, Virginia.

Religion and Organ Donation

  • Virtually all religious denominations approve of organ and tissue donation as representing the highest humanitarian ideals and the ultimate charitable act.

Source: National Kidney Foundation

The National Kidney Foundation has a detailed Q&A about kidney donation for potential living donors:

http://www.kidney.org/transplantation/livingdonors/infoQA.cfm