Organ transplants in the United States increased 5.4% from 1999 to 2000, according to preliminary figures.
A total of 21,655 organ transplants took place in the United States in 1999, and 22,827 took place last year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration and the United Network for Organ Sharing, which announced the figures in mid April as part of National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week.
Over the one-year period, donors from cadavers rose from 5825 to 5984, or 2.7%. Living donors jumped 16.5%-from 4747 to 5532-representing the largest one-year jump ever recorded.
"We must remember that increasing living donation alone will not save enough lives," said UNOS President Patricia Adams, MD. "We must continue to educate the public about the importance of organ donation."
Despite the increases, more than 75,000 people are waiting for organs. Said HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson: "We're encouraged by the progress that has been made in the last year, but there's still a very long way to go."
For Your Information:
UNOS posts its statement at www.unos.org/Newsroom/archive_newsrelease_20010416_2000numbers.htm.
HHS posts the same statement, dated April 16, at www.hhs.gov/news/press/2001.html.
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