Mon 6 Aug 2007
Minorities Account for 51% of the U.S. Transplant Waiting List (PRNewswire)
Posted by Editor under HealthcareRICHMOND, Va., July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In observance ofNational Minority Donor Awareness Day, Donate Life America calls attention tothe 49,000 minority individuals that account for 51 percent of the UnitedStates transplant waiting list. There are nearly 100,000 people of all ages,races, and religions in desperate need of life-saving organ transplants thatmay not come in time. Hundreds of thousands more are in need of tissuetransplants to restore their health, mobility, and sight. To save these lives,the public is encouraged to visit http://www.donatelife.net and determine thesteps necessary to become registered donors in their state.
At the top of the list of minorities in need of organ transplants areAfrican Americans followed by Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, PacificIslanders and people of Multiracial decent. African Americans alone accountfor 27 percent of people on the national waiting list and 35 percent of thosewaiting for kidneys.