2006 Organ Donation, Transplantation Rates Continue Growth Trend

Organ donation and transplantation are on the rise in the United States – good news as the country observes National Donate Life Month in April.

Donation and transplantation rates increased significantly in 2006, continuing a recent trend of annual increases. Nearly 29,000 transplant operations were performed, and the number of deceased donors topped 8,000, according to preliminary data announced by the HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The figures represent new annual highs in both categories.

In 2006, a total of 28,923 organ transplant operations were performed nationwide, up from 28,112 the year before. From the 2006 operations, 31,184 organs were transplanted; of that number, 24,461 organs came from deceased donors (78.4 percent), and 6,723 transplanted organs were from living donors (21.6 percent).

“As we observe National Donate Life Month, we are encouraged to see that more people than ever received a life-giving opportunity through the generosity of organ donors in 2006,” said HRSA Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke. “We are reminded, however, that more than 95,000 people still wait for organs to become available to them. National Donate Life Month reminds us of the urgent need for more Americans to choose donation.”

The 8,022 deceased donors in 2006 – the first time that number surpassed 8,000 – represents an increase of 5.6 percent over the 2005 total of 7,593 deceased donors. From 2002 to 2006, the annual total of deceased donors has increased 29.6 percent.

There were also increases in minority donation in 2006. African-Americans comprised 15.5 percent of deceased donors and Hispanics an additional 13.7 percent; both rates are slightly higher than their proportion of the overall U.S. population.

Kidney transplants are the most common transplant procedure. In 2006, a record total of 17,084 kidney transplants were performed, representing a 15.6 percent increase since 2002. There were 6,650 liver transplants in 2006, also an all-time record.

The preliminary data were compiled by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), which is operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) under contract with HRSA. The data are subject to change based upon further submission or correction.

The news of rising donation rates is particularly encouraging to HRSA, which supports a number of policy initiatives and educational programs aimed at promoting donation throughout the country:

• In 2003, HRSA launched the Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative to bring together donation professionals and hospital executives and medical staff to identify and share best practices to raise the organ donation rate from people who die in their facilities to at least 75 percent. Staff from HRSA and from state and regional Organ Procurement Organizations help participating hospitals identify, adapt, test, and implement practices known to produce high donation rates.
  
  
• The success of the donation collaborative led to the launch by HRSA in May 2005 of a related initiative, the Organ Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative. This effort seeks to increase the average number of organs transplanted per donor to 3.75 or more, up from an average of about three organs transplanted per donor in 2004.
  
  
• The Workplace Partnership for Life is a collaboration between HHS and corporations, associations and organizations of all sizes to make information on donation available to employees and members. Today, close to 11,000 entities participate.
  
  
• The 12 Weeks of Giving campaign, which ended February 28, resulted in at least 42,000 new designated donors and reached almost 750,000 potential donors. A number of those donors were reached through Give Five, Save Lives, an initiative that encourages employers to give employees five minutes out of the workday to register their decision to be organ donors.

In February, HRSA announced the results of a 2005 Gallup Organization survey which indicates that Americans continue to strongly support the donation of organs and tissues for transplantation (http://newsroom.hrsa.gov/releases/2007/organdonationsurvey.htm). More importantly, the survey also finds that far higher percentages of Americans have taken personal actions to become organ donors since a similar 1993 survey on donation.

For more information on donation, including how to register as an organ donor, visit www.organdonor.gov.

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The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable. HRSA also oversees the national organ and tissue transplantation system.  For more information about HRSA, visit www.hrsa.gov.

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