National
New York Organ Donor Network Saved 682 Lives in 2009
By
Mar 3, 2010 - 12:27:43 PM

Despite the upward trend, including a record number of eye and tissue donors, the region continues to experience a critical shortage of donors and a low donor registry enrollment rate.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - New York, NY – February 23, 2010: The generosity of 914 organ and tissue donors in the greater New York metropolitan area saved the lives of 682 people through organ transplants in 2009 and saved or improved the lives of countless others through eye, skin, bone, heart valve and other transplants, according to the New York Organ Donor Network. The nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organization, which serves 13 million people in New York City, Long Island, and northern counties up to Poughkeepsie, announced that there were 285 organ donors and 754 eye and tissue donors—a record number.

In its year-end report, the Donor Network stated that when compared with 2008, there were 34 more deceased organ donors—an increase of 14 percent. There was also a sizeable increase in the organ donation consent rate from deceased donors, from 54 percent to 64 percent. The average consent rate in the United States as of September 30, 2009 was 70 percent.

Over all, a total of 740 organs were transplanted in the New York metropolitan area, with several patients receiving more than one organ. Among the organs transplanted were 69 hearts, 345 kidneys, 55 lungs, and 226 livers or liver segments.

Last year in New York State as whole, which takes into account both upstate and downstate counties, there were 414 deceased organ donors. This translates into an increase of 11 percent more donors than in 2008.

Nationwide, as of November 30, there were 7,384 deceased organ donors, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), the network established by the United States Congress under the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984. From January to December 2008, there were 7,991 deceased organ donors throughout the United States. It dipped below the 8,000 mark after hovering above that number since 2006. Complete data for 2009 is currently being tabulated, so it is too early to say whether the national numbers showed an improvement over the previous year.

Commenting on the positive shift in terms of the number of organ and tissue donors in the New York metropolitan area last year, Elaine Berg, the Donor Network’s president and CEO, said, “We are deeply grateful to the compassion and selflessness shown by the donors and their families. The ten percentage point increase in the organ donation consent rate is nothing short of remarkable, as is the record number of eye and tissue donors. A total of 1,555 eyes and tissues, such as bone, skin and heart valves, will make a difference for thousands of people.”

Ms. Berg pointed out that this is the second year in a row that the number of eye and tissue donors broke previous records. The highest-ever number of tissue donors represent an 8 percent increase over the previous year. Still, she was quick to acknowledge that boosting the number of organ, eye and tissue donors in the New York metro area continues to be challenging. Of the more than 105,000 patients for organ transplants in the United States, more than 7,600 are listed in the greater New York metropolitan area.

“One thing is certain,” Ms. Berg said, “as much as we celebrate saved lives, we are forced to consider so many other lives lost because of the shortage of donors. It’s for this reason that I am issuing an urgent appeal to all New Yorkers age 18 or over to enroll in the New York State Donate Life Registry, the confidential database administered by New York State’s Department of Health. It’s shocking that statewide, only 11 percent of all New Yorkers have enrolled. In some other states, the enrollment numbers exceed 60 percent.”

New Yorkers are urged to add their names to the New York State Donate Life Registry while renewing their driver’s license or on the New York Organ Donor Network’s Web site at www.DonateLifeNY.org.

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