Organ and Tissue Donation - The Office of Minority Health

Organ and Tissue Donation

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Organ Donation and African Americans

African Americans make up the largest group of minorities in need of an organ transplant. In 2014, African Americans made up 12.7 percent of the national population.

The number of organ transplants performed on black Americans in 2015 was only 17% of the number of black Americans currently waiting for a transplant. The number of transplants performed on white Americans was 31% of the number currently waiting.
While 29.8% of the total candidates currently waiting for transplants are black American, they comprised 13.5% of organ donors in 2015.
In 2015, 73 percent of donor organs from 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 Americans, the number of candidates waiting for a kidney transplant is almost the same between blacks and whites.
Black Americans have higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure than white Americans. These conditions are known to put the patient 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	131,347	39,200	29.8%	55,224	42.0%
Kidney	107,973	36,058	33.6%	39,377	36.6%
Liver	15,021	1,207	8.0%	10,196	67.9%
Heart	4,145	1,070	25.8%	2,553	61.6%
Lung	1,446	155	10.7%	1,129	78.1%

Source: HRSA U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of July 12, 2016.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/*

**Transplants Performed in the U.S. by Recipient Ethnicity, 2015**
	Number	% of total 2015 transplants
Black	6,755	21.8%
White	17,179	55.5%
Total Transplants	30,969	100%

Source: HRSA U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of July 12, 2016.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/

**U.S. Organ Donors Recovered, 2015**
Donor Type	# of all donors	# of Black donors	Black % of all donors	# of White donors	White % of all donors
Living	5,987	553	9.2%	4,197	70.1%
Deceased	9,079	1,476	16.3%	5,966	67.4%
Total	15,068	2,029	13.5%	10,163	67.4%

Source: HRSA U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Based on OPTN data as of July 12, 2016.
https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/data/view-data-reports/national-data/

* OPTN data is updated monthly. The OMHRC data & statistics for this section will be updated biannually. For the most recent OPTN data, click here

Last Modified: 8/17/2016 11:02:00 AM

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