|
You CAN make a difference!
Transplantation is no longer considered
experimental. It is a desired treatment for thousands with
end-stage organ disease. Each year, more than 900,000 Americans
receive tissue transplants and approximately 28,000 receive organ
transplants. In recent years, medical breakthroughs have
greatly improved the success rate for transplantation.
Success rates now generally runs in excess of 80% for transplants
overall.
The total number of patients waiting for an
organ transplant today numbers more than 100,000 (21% of them are
Californians). More than one-third of them will die before a donor
can be found. In 2007, 6,411 Americans - one every 90 minutes - died while waiting for a transplant.
The waiting list for organ transplants
is growing at the rate of 1,000 per month. Another name is added
to the waiting list every 13 minutes. In the GSDS area, about 1,000 people are
on the waiting list, yet annually only 60 - 80 people donate one or more organs upon death..
A total of 22,827 organ transplants were
performed in the United States during 2000; 28,352 were performed in 2007.
Currently, only about 8,000 of the approximately 15,000 medically suitable
potential donors actually donate each year. Only about one third of
the donation potential is being realized.
Under ideal conditions, one donor can supply as
many as 8 organs (heart, 2 lungs, liver, pancreas, 2 kidneys, and
intestine). At today's average recovery rate, the
current pool of potential donors could meet the needs of up to
50,000 people per year.
The refusal rate among families of potential
donors nationwide is around 50 percent. However, a recent Gallup
poll found 93% of respondents willing to donate a deceased family
member's organs if he or she had expressed this wish prior to
death. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SHARE YOUR DECISION WITH YOUR
FAMILY!!! A DONOR CARD ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH!
|
