Last year more than 24,000 patients began new lives thanks to organ transplants – about 65 every day. Nearly 124,000 people in the U.S. are currently waiting for an organ transplant. More than 1,000 of them are age 10 or younger. With 150 people being added to the nation’s organ transplant waiting list each day, the demand for organ donors has never been greater.
Do Americans have all the facts when it comes to making the ultimate gift? A living donor can save a life by donating a portion of their liver, or one kidney. Deceased donors can donate multiple organs and tissues, saving or enhancing up to 60 lives. Tissue and cornea donation can restore mobility and sight, and provide healing for burn victims, among other benefits. During National Donate Life Month, Mayo Clinic surveyed consumers about organ donation and transplantation in the hopes of gaining insights into consumers’ perceptions, and building awareness, understanding, and support for organ donation. Currently, more than 121 million people, about half of the U.S. adult population are registered organ, eye and tissue donors.
In this interview, Dr. Brooks Edwards of Mayo Clinic reveals important results from their survey and what viewers can do to become an organ and tissue donor.
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Dr. Brooks Edwards is a transplant cardiologist, and the Director of the William J. von Liebig Center for Transplantation and Clinical Regeneration at Mayo Clinic. He is also a Professor of Medicine and Consultant in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Edwards’ clinical and research activity centers around heart failure and transplantation. He served as Medical Director of the Cardiac Transplant Program from 2002 to 2008.
