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Number of deceased organ donors increases in the US
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During 2017, the number of deceased organ donors in the United States topped 10,000 for the first time, according to data from United Network for Organ Sharing. For the year, organs were recovered from 10,281 donors, representing a 3.1% increase compared with rates for 2016 and an increase of 27% since 2007.
According to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), there were 34,768 organ transplants performed in 2017, using organs from both deceased and living donors. Approximately 82% of the transplants performed in 2017 involved organs from deceased donors. Living donor transplants accounted for the remaining 18%. In the 30-year span from 1988 (the first full-year national transplant data were collected) through 2017, a total of 721,742 transplants have been performed nationwide.
While the number of potential organ donors varies among different areas of the country due to differences in population size and medical characteristics, 35 of 58 organ procurement organizations (OPOs) coordinating deceased organ donation experienced an increase in donors from 2016 to 2017, including at least one OPO in each of the 11 UNOS 11 regions.
- Reference:
- https://unos.org/deceased-organ-donors-in-united-states-exceeded-10000-for-first-time-in-2017/