Organ Donation and Hispanic Americans

Hispanics have high rates of diabetes and heart disease. Mexican Americans, in particular, suffer disproportionately from obesity, which contributes to diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. These conditions are known to put patients at risk for organ failures. Language barriers also negatively affect patient access to health care as well as adequate health information. In 2019, Hispanics made up 18.4 percent of the national population.

  • The number of organ transplants performed on Hispanics in 2020 was about 30 percent of the number of Hispanics currently waiting for a transplant. The number of transplants performed on whites was 48.8 percent of the number currently waiting.
  • While 20.5 percent of the total candidates currently waiting for transplants are Hispanic, they comprised 14.6 percent of organ donors in 2020.
  • Almost 69 percent of organs recovered from Hispanic patients in 2020 were from deceased donors.
  • Both Hispanic men and women have a chronic liver disease rate that is twice that of the white population, and they are almost twice as likely to die from chronic liver disease as compared to the white population.
U.S. Transplant Waiting List – Candidates by Race/Ethnicity
OrganAll Candidates# of Hispanic CandidatesHispanic % of All Candidates # of White CandidatesWhite % of All Candidates
All Organs106,66621,86420.543,05440.4
Kidney90,23519,14221.232,37735.9
Liver11,7042,19018.77,86567.2
Heart3,53139311.12,00456.8
Lung92216416.566166.6

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
NumberPercentage of Total 2020 Transplants
Hispanic 6,58516.9
White20,99753.8
Total Transplants39,036100

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 Hispanic Donors% of All Hispanic Donors # of White Donors% of All White Donors
Living5,72983114.54,12972.1
Deceased12,5881,84514.78,24965.5
Total18,3172,67614.612,37867.6

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 Hispanic Donors% of All Hispanic Donors # of White Donors% of All White Donors
Living83131.14,12933.4
Deceased1,84568.98,24966.6
Total2,67610012,378100

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.