Give the Gift of Life – Organ Donation

Robert Grant, Jr. after his kidney transplant.

Thousands of desperately ill people die each year awaiting suitable organs.

There are currently over 100,000 men, women, young adults and children on the list for organ transplants. The largest group waiting is from 18 – 49 years of age. Last year more than 8,000 people died due to the lack of organs. That number continues to rise by a new name every 14 minutes.

Each day 16 people will die because an organ is not donated. Fifty percent of those waiting for an organ transplant are minorities. Almost a full third of those waiting for an organ transplant in the U.S. are African American, and 35% of those waiting for a kidney transplants are African American.

Today the African American community in the United States is particularly hard hit by the shortage of organs and tissues. The lack of organs is especially punitive to minority groups such as blacks and Hispanics because generally the need is greater even though these groups donate at roughly the same rate as other demographic groups.

For example, African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and
Hispanics are three times more likely to suffer from kidney failure
than Whites. Native Americans are four times more likely than whites to
suffer from diabetes. Some of these diseases are best treated through
transplantation; others can only be treated through transplantation.

African Americans are about 13 percent of the population, about 12
percent of donors, and about 23 percent of the kidney waiting list. A
potential recipient’s position on the list is determined by age,
severity of medical condition, and other biological characteristics,
noting that the list is fairly democratic in nature.

Myths About Organ Donation Among Minorities

MYTH: If I am in an accident and the hospital knows that I want to be a donor, the doctors will let me die.

FACT: Donation is not considered until all efforts to save a person
have failed. Additionally, transplant surgeons and their staff are, by
law, forbidden from taking part in a patient’s care prior to organ
donation. They become involved only after the person is declared dead
and permission has been given by the family for organ donation.

MYTH: Whites are helped more than blacks.

FACT: Absolutely not. In fact, nine out of ten African Americans who
undergo organ transplant surgery receive an organ from a Caucasian
donor. In addition, a computer system fairly matches organs with
recipients based on a recipient’s time on an organ waiting list, the
severity of the recipient’s condition, blood type, size of the donated
organ and, in some cases, the donor’s genetic make-up.

MYTH: Wealthy and famous people are able to buy their way to a higher
spot on waiting lists. Take Mickey Mantle for example. A match was
found for him within days of being put on the waiting list.

FACT: Anyone who needs an organ transplant is eligible for one, but you
cannot buy a higher spot on waiting lists. Mickey Mantle got his
transplant so quickly because his blood type was the most common and
because he was among the sickest patients waiting in his area.

MYTH: As African American organ donors, our organs will go to white folks and never other African Americans.

FACT: If you donate an organ, such as a kidney, for which genetic
make-up is a critical factor in transplantation, then it is probable,
though not guaranteed, that your organ will go to another African
American. Therefore, even if you don’t donate an organ that needs to be
genetically matched, the recipient may still be an African American.

MYTH: African American organ donors aren’t necessarily needed.

FACT: Everyone on the waiting lists can benefit from more organ donors.
However, African-Americans on waiting lists for kidneys will most
likely benefit from African-American donors, because transplantation
often is enhanced by matching organs between members of the same ethnic
and racial groups.