Organ transplants performed in the United States in 2016 reached a new record high for the fourth consecutive year, according to preliminary data from United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). UNOS serves as the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) under federal contract. For the year, 33,606 transplants were reported, representing an 8.5 percent increase over the 2015 total and an increase of 19.8 percent since 2012.
“Thousands more men, women and children are receiving a life-saving transplant opportunity each year,” said Stuart Sweet, M.D., Ph.D., President of the OPTN/UNOS Board of Directors. “We are deeply grateful to all who have chosen to help others through the life-saving act of organ donation. We are also very conscious that many more people are still anxiously awaiting a transplant, so we must continue to work with our partners in the donation and transplant community to meet the needs of those who continue to wait.”
The growth in overall transplants was largely driven by an increase of 9.2 percent in the number of deceased donors from 2015 to 2016, continuing a six-year trend of annual increases. Many deceased donors provide multiple organs for transplantation. Approximately 82 percent (27,628) of the transplants involved organs from deceased donors. The remaining 18 percent (5,978) were performed with organs from living donors.
“This increase in organ transplants is partly a realization of an ongoing commitment to improvement at organ procurement organizations, transplant hospitals, and UNOS,” said Brian Shepard, UNOS’ Chief Executive Officer. “Organ transplantation has long been at the forefront of data-driven quality improvement, and OPOs and UNOS are working together on a technology-driven transformation in the way organ donors are identified and recovered.” (See UNOS’ recent public service announcement to promote transplant awareness.)
Continue to read full article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-organ-transplants-deceased-donors-141400881.html
Additional articles at: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/09/health/organ-donation-2016/
http://www.crossroadstoday.com/story/34217907/us-organ-transplants-increased-nearly-20-in-five-years
https://www.transplantpro.org/news/us-organ-transplants-set-record-in-2016/
Image taken from https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/
