April 16, 2001 WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of living organ donors climbed by more than 16 percent last year, the largest one-year increase ever, with more than 5,500 people giving away a kidney or a piece of their liver.
Meanwhile, donations from the dead edged up by less than 3 percent in 2000, continuing the slow pace of recent years, the Department of Health and Human Services said Monday.
The data come a day before HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson unveils a major donation initiative, including introduction of a national donor card and new effort with businesses and unions to promote donation. Among participants in the campaign, called ``Workplace Partnership for Life,'' are Fox News, General Motors, the United Auto Workers and Verizon Communications.
``We're encouraged by the progress that has been made in the last year, but there's still a very long way to go,'' said Thompson, who has regularly talked to audiences about the need for organ donation since taking office.
His initiative comes after several years of debate over how to distribute scarce organs for transplant but relatively little focus nationally on how to increase the total number of donors.
Until now, most of the effort has been channeled into media campaigns and toward requiring hospitals to report deaths to their local organ banks so transplant professionals can identify potential donors and approach their families about donation.
In 2000, a total of 22,827 organ transplants were performed, an increase of 5.4 percent over 1999, according to data compiled by the United Network for Organ Sharing, which runs that nation's transplant system.
But the increases were much more dramatic among living donors, who now make up nearly half of all organ donors. Still, cadaveric - or dead - donors account for the bulk of transplants because they can donate several organs apiece whereas living donors give a single kidney or a piece of their liver.
Last year, there were 5,532 living donors, an increase of 16.5 percent from 1999, and 5,984 dead donors, an increase of 2.7 percent.
Dr. Patricia Adams, president of the transplant network, attributed the spike in living donations to improvements in transplantation and the shortage of deceased donors.
``We must remember that increasing living donation alone will not save enough lives,'' she said.
More than 75,000 people are on the transplant waiting list.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
