Donation Facts

  • As of September 1, 2009, 103,147 patients were waiting for a transplants. *
  • An average of 18 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant; In 2008, there were 6,336 people who died waiting.
  • As a donor, you can help save or improve the lives of more than 60 people.
  • Approximately 1,000,000 tissue transplants are performed annually.
  • Cornea transplants are the most common form of tissue transplantation with a 97% success rate.
  • Every 10 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.
  • 90% of Americans say they support donation, but only 30% know the essential steps to take to be a donor.
  • According to research, 98% of all adults have heard about organ donation and 86% have heard of tissue donation.
  • In 2008, 27,961 individuals received a life-saving organ transplant thanks to the generosity of a donor. *

*Based on data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network of the US Department of Health and Human Services, as of May 15, 2009 -- data subject to change due to future submissions or corrections.

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