Organ Donation Rates: How the US Stacks Up
ABC News | Sidney Lupkin
Facebook may have provided a boost to organ donation in the United States since its donor registration button launched last year, but organs are still scarce, and about 18 people die every day as they wait on a transplant list, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
But not all countries require that people who choose to donate organs register as organ donors at the Department of Motor Vehicles or online as we do here.
Some countries have opt-out systems in which citizens are presumed organ donors unless they formally opt not to donate their organs when they die. Other countries even offer incentives such as payment for living kidney donations or preferred treatment for donors if they ever need to become a transplant recipient.
But not all countries require that people who choose to donate organs register as organ donors at the Department of Motor Vehicles or online as we do here.
Some countries have opt-out systems in which citizens are presumed organ donors unless they formally opt not to donate their organs when they die. Other countries even offer incentives such as payment for living kidney donations or preferred treatment for donors if they ever need to become a transplant recipient.
United States
Although there are more than 118,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list in the United States, only 8,143 underwent transplants from deceased donors in 2012, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which allocates organs as a result of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.
With its opt-in program, the United States has the fourth-highest organ donor rate, with 26 donors per million people in the population, according to data from the National Transplant Organization in Spain, which compiles organ donation rates annually.
The United States, however, leads the world in actual transplant rates, which Dr. Tom Mone, a past president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, says means doctors can use more of the organs they harvest.
Although there are more than 118,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list in the United States, only 8,143 underwent transplants from deceased donors in 2012, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which allocates organs as a result of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984.
With its opt-in program, the United States has the fourth-highest organ donor rate, with 26 donors per million people in the population, according to data from the National Transplant Organization in Spain, which compiles organ donation rates annually.
The United States, however, leads the world in actual transplant rates, which Dr. Tom Mone, a past president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, says means doctors can use more of the organs they harvest.
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"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net
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