  
Organ demand is outstripping supply
Last Updated: 2001-02-23 14:28:04 EST (Reuters Health)
WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) - The number of Americans awaiting an organ transplant greatly outpaced the number of transplants performed in the 1990s, according to a report release yesterday by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
The report highlights a growing gap between available organs and transplant candidates. While the total number of living and cadaveric donors increased 59% between 1990 and 1999 to 10,561, the number of people waiting for organ transplants more than tripled in 1999 to 72,110.
Meanwhile, total single- and multiple-organ transplants performed grew at a slower rate, up 44% to 21,516 in 1999.
UNOS President Dr. Patricia Adams expressed concern over the growth of the waiting list for organs. "The community [of transplant professionals] continues to seek new and better solutions to save and enhance patients' lives," she said.
As one of his first priorities, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has vowed to increase the nation's organ supply by raising national awareness of the importance of donation (see Reuters Health report, February 2).
One encouraging sign, Dr. Adams said, is the growth of living donation, which doubled during the 1990s to 4712 in 1999. Living liver donors doubled between 1998 and 1999, from 85 to 218.
The report also documents an increase in living kidney donors unrelated to the recipient to 20% in 1999 from 5% in 1990.
UNOS, the private organization that runs the nation's organ transplant network, produced the annual report under contract with the Health Resources and Services Administration.
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