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 2018, African Americans made up 12.7 percent of the national population.

The number of organ transplants performed on Black/African Americans in 2019 was 25.8 percent of the number of Black/African Americans currently waiting for a transplant. The number of transplants performed on white Americans was 47.6 percent of the number currently waiting.
While 28.7 percent of the total candidates currently waiting for transplants are Black/African Americans, they comprised 12.5 percent of organ donors in 2019.
In 2019, 74.5 percent of donor organs from Black/African Americans were from deceased donors.
Although the total number of white Americans on organ transplant waiting lists is about 1.4 times greater than that of Black/African Americans, the number of candidates waiting for a kidney transplant is almost the same between Black/African Americans and white Americans.
Black/African Americans 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	112,258	32,260	28.7	45,441	40.5
Kidney	94,458	30,029	31.8	33,680	35.7
Liver	12,647	932	7.4	8,497	67.2
Heart	3,686	1,034	28.1	2,140	58.1
Lung	1,309	179	13.7	918	70.1

Source: HRSA. U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of February 20, 2020.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/*

Transplants Performed in the U.S. by Recipient Ethnicity, 2019
	Number	Percentage of Total 2019 Transplants
Black	6,755	21.0
White	21,248	54.5
Total Transplants	39,718	100

Source: HRSA. U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of February 20, 2020.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/

U.S. Organ Donors Recovered, 2019
Donor Type	# of All Donors	# of Black Donors	Black % of All Donors	# of White Donors	White % of All Donors
Living	7,381	616	8.3	5,269	71.4
Deceased	11,870	1,798	15.1	7,784	65.6
Total	19,251	2,414	12.5	13,053	67.8

Source: HRSA. U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of February 20, 2020.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/

U.S. Organ Donors Recovered, 2019
Donor Type	# of Black Donors	% of Black Donors	# of White Donors	% of White Donors
Living	616	25.5	5,269	40.4
Deceased	1,798	74.5	7,784	59.6
Total	2,414	100	13,053	100

Source: HRSA. U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of February 20, 2020.
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: 3/4/2020 8:55:00 AM

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