Richmond, Va. -- Preliminary statistics indicate that 6,455 people became deceased organ donors in the United States in 2003. This represents an increase of 4.3 percent over the previous year, the highest annual increase since 1998. These statistics are compiled by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), which is operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) under federal contract.

A total of 25,448 transplants were performed with organs from both deceased and living donors. In addition, the number of transplant candidates who died awaiting a transplant in 2003 fell to 5,968 after exceeding 6,000 each year since 1999.

"We are honored by the selfless gift of organ donation and encouraged that transplants saved more lives in 2003," said OPTN/UNOS President Russell Wiesner, M.D. "But we must continue our efforts to help the more than 84,000 people still anxiously awaiting a transplant."

The donor increase in 2003 came amid intensified efforts to promote both public commitment to organ donation and health professionals’ support of the donation process. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has taken a leadership role by continuing a workplace-based public educational campaign and launching an initiative to raise donation rates among the nation’s largest hospitals. Other significant efforts include national public awareness campaigns sponsored by the Coalition on Donation and the state-and local-based advocacy of the nation’s 59 organ procurement organizations.

There were 6,808 living organ donors in 2003, an increase of 2.9 percent over the previous year but a smaller annual rate of increase than in several recent years. Since 2001, the number of living organ donors in the U.S. has exceeded the number of deceased donors. More than 40 percent of the kidney transplants performed in the U.S. each year are made possible through living donation.

Deaths among candidates listed for a transplant declined 10.5 percent from 2002 to 2003. This was likely due in part to the nearly 550 additional transplants performed in 2003. However, the change also may have been affected by other factors, such as better medical management of patients awaiting a transplant and the effects of recently enacted OPTN/UNOS organ allocation policies that give more priority to patients who are medically urgent and/or harder to match with most donated organs.

"Our fondest hope is that in the coming year we can meet the needs of all transplant candidates," said Wiesner. "But at the very least we hope to build upon the positive trends we are seeing with the most recent data."

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) is operated under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Transplantation by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). The OPTN brings together medical professionals, transplant recipients and donor families to develop organ transplantation policy.

                                                                                                                        Source:  UNOS