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Home  Feature Articles Critical Need for Organ Donors
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Critical Need for Organ Donors |
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Wednesday, 31 May 2006 |
There are over 89,000 US patients waiting for transplants of vital organs—kidney, liver, heart, bone marrow, pancreas and lung—and nearly 4,000 new patients are added to the waiting list every month. There are growing shortages in the supply of organs and tissues and many Americans who need transplants cannot get them. Some die while waiting for the “Gift of Life.”
An estimated 12,000 people who die each year meet the criteria for organ donation, but less than half become actual organ donors. Even if a person has signed a Uniform Donor Card, at the time of death the person’s next-of-kin will still be asked to sign a consent form. It’s important to tell your family about your donor decision—about 35% potential donors never become donors because family members refuse to give consent.
It’s also important to know that all costs related to the donation of organs and tissues are paid for by the donor program and that there are no outward signs of donor donation on the donor’s body. More information is available at www.kidney.org about giving the “Gift of Life” to others.
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