Organ donations by the numbers

[okarol]

Organ donations by the numbers

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, July 31, 2010

Aug. 1 is National Minority Donor Day, established to encourage minorities to donate at rates that reflect their numbers waiting on the list. Organs are matched with medical compatibility, specifically kidneys. Kidney transplants have a better success rate if the organ donor is the same ethnicity.

107,000

People awaiting organs in the United States

85,000

Awaiting kidney transplants

10,000+

Texans awaiting organ transplants

8,000

Texans needing kidneys

Awaiting kidneys in Texas

24% African-American

51% Hispanic

Deceased Texas organ donors

15% African-American

31% Hispanic

• The Southwest Transplant Alliance says the number of minority organ donations is increasing. In the first quarter of this year, 70 percent of non-Hispanic whites, 69 percent of Hispanics and 65 percent of African-Americans approached with donation requests agreed to donate a loved one's organs.

• Register to be a donor at www.donatelifetexas.org or at a Department of Public Safety office. About 60,000 people register each month.

• Pam Silvestri, spokeswoman for the Southwest Transplant Alliance, urges registration because it serves as consent even if family members would prefer not to donate their deceased loved one's organs.

SOURCE: Southwest Transplant Alliance

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-organdonorbox_31met.ART.State.Edition1.3605678.html