Organ Donation and Transplant
Overview
- Every 10 minutes, another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list. Twenty-one people die each day from lack of a transplant.
- More than 1 million tissue transplants are done each year.
- Ninety percent of Americans support donation, but only 30 percent know how to become a donor.
- While transplants can and do cross racial and ethnic lines, donors are more likely to match someone from their own racial or ethnic background due to genetic similarities.
- One deceased organ donor can save eight lives and improve many more with cornea and tissue transplants.
