Organ Donation and African Americans

Organ and Tissue Donation

African Americans make up the largest group of minorities in need of an organ transplant. In 2019, blacks made up 12.8 percent of the national population.

The number of organ transplants performed on blacks in 2020 was 27.7 percent of the number of blacks currently waiting for a transplant. The number of transplants performed on whites was 47.6 percent of the number currently waiting.
While 28.5 percent of the total candidates currently waiting for transplants are blacks, they comprised 12.9 percent of organ donors in 2020.
In 2020, 83.6 percent of donor organs from blacks were from deceased donors.
In 2020, 16.4 percent of blacks were living donors as compared to 33.4 percent of white living donors.
Although the total number of whites on organ transplant waiting lists is about 1.4 times greater than that of blacks, the number of candidates waiting for a kidney transplant is almost the same between blacks and whites.
Blacks have higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure than the white population. These conditions are known to put patients at risk for organ failures.

U.S. Transplant Waiting List – Candidates by Race/Ethnicity
Organ	All Candidates	# of Black Candidates	Black % of All Candidates	# of White Candidates	White % of All Candidates
All Organs	106,666	30,421	28.5	43,054	40.4
Kidney	90,235	28,365	31.4	32,377	35.9
Liver	11,704	836	7.1	7,865	67.2
Heart	3,531	990	28.0	2,004	56.8
Lung	922	118	11.9	661	66.6

Source: HRSA. U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of August 23, 2021.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/*

Transplants Performed in the U.S. by Recipient Ethnicity, 2020
	Number	Percentage of Total 2020 Transplants
Black	8,414	21.6
White	20,997	53.8
Total Transplants	39,036	100

Source: HRSA. U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of August 23, 2021.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/

U.S. Organ Donors Recovered, 2020
Donor Type	# of All Donors	# of Black Donors	% of All Black Donors	# of White Donors	% of All White Donors
Living	5,729	390	6.8	4,129	72.1
Deceased	12,588	1,982	15.7	8,249	65.5
Total	18,317	2,372	12.9	12,378	67.6

Source: HRSA. U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of August 23, 2021.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/

U.S. Organ Donors Recovered, 2020
Donor Type	# of Black Donors	% of All Black Donors	# of White Donors	% of All White Donors
Living	390	16.4	4,129	33.4
Deceased	1,982	83.6	8,249	66.6
Total	2,372	100	12,378	100

Source: HRSA. U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of August 23, 2021.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/

*OPTN data is updated monthly online. The data and statistics for this section will be updated annually.

Last Modified: 8/26/2021 4:40:00 PM

Office of Minority Health

Organ Donation and African Americans

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