you Don't wish you could give someone the ultimate gift once you have left this earth or when you are still living? This gift I am referring to is the gift of life, freedom and happiness. The freedom I am referring to, is to do whatever you want when you want to and not be restricted to a sick bed and pills. More than 100,000 people in the United States are waiting for an organ transplant. My uncle is included in this statistic, making the topic of organ donation a big part of my life. Throughout this speech I am going to share with you some of the statistics of organ donation, the shortage of available organs afflicting thousands of people, and some methods that could result in many more available organs. The shortage of organs today is a very big issue due to the fact that a lot of people are dying because they do not have the organs that they need to survive. Organ donation is the removal of the tissues of the human body from a person who has recently died, or from a living donor, for the purpose of transplanting or grafting them into other persons. People of all ages may be organ and tissue donors. Nearly 100,000 men, women and children are waiting for organs for transplantation in the United States (kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, pancreas and intestines). Of these, more than 8,000 are in New York State, and approximately 7,000 of them live in the greater New York metropolitan area. Thousands more need eyes and tissues such as heart-valves, skin and bone. Did you know that one organ donor can save up to eight lives? One tissue donor can save or improve the quality of life for up to 50 people. But nationwide, only 59 percent of the families asked about organ donation consent. The organ donation consent rate in the greater New York metropolitan area in 2006 was 56%. Each day, an average of 17 people who are waiting for organs in the United States, die because no organs could be found for them. This means that each year, more than 6,000 people die in the United States waiting for organ transplants. Every 13 minutes, a new name is added to the national waiting list for organs in the United States. Because
of the lack of available donors in this country, 3,916 kidney patients, 1,570 liver patients, 356 heart patients and 245 lung patients died in 2006 while waiting life-saving for organ transplants. Nearly 10 percent of the patients currently waiting for heart transplants are young people under 18 years of age. Acceptable organ donors can range in age from newborn to 65 years or more. People who are 65 years of age or older may be acceptable donors, particularly of corneas, skin, bone and for total body donation. An estimated 12,000 people who die each year meet the criteria for organ donation, but less than half of that number become actual organ donors. A persistent issue relating to organ donation is the scarcity of organ donors relative to the number of potential recipients on organ donation waiting lists. No matter what laws and systems are in place, the demand for kidney transplants has outstripped supply in every country. In the United States, the waiting list is quoted to be about 96,522 people long. Different organs have different waiting times and success rates because demand is significantly different for different organs. Three-quarters of patients in need of an organ transplant are waiting for a kidney, and more than half of them die before a matching organ becomes available. This is less common with other organs. Almost everyone is allowed to donate and organ except if you are a high risk patient, meaning a sexually active homosexual is not allowed to donate organs. But many patients today would rather face the risk of an infection than face the risk of an organ failure. Thousands of patients could receive an organ if high risk people were allowed to donate. Websites are allowing patients to make direct pleas and will match them with willing donors. Patients are willing to pay cash for an organ which can lead to exploitation of the poor. This is not a right thing to do even if they are socially below other people. By being an organ donor you are giving someone the gift of life. Challenges for the future include trying to find new ways to narrow the gap between supply
and demand. Closing the gap will not only involve more knowledge on the subject but also resolving issues such as respect to deceased and living donors, mandated choice, presumed consent, and ethical incentives.
Works Cited
http://www.organdonor.gov/ http://www.donatelifeny.org/organ/o_statistics.html www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/organdonation.html