Oh, I Found the Statistics I Thought I'd Lost

According to the National Kidney Foundation at www.kidney.org:

• There are currently 121,678 people waiting for lifesaving organ transplants in the U.S. Of these, 100,791 await kidney transplants. (as of 1/11/16) 1
• The median wait time for an individual’s first kidney transplant is 3.6 years and can vary depending on health, compatibility and availability of organs.2
• In 2014, 17,107 kidney transplants took place in the US. Of these, 11,570 came from deceased donors and 5,537 came from living donors.1

On average:

• Over 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list each month.1
• 13 people die each day while waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant.1
• Every 14 minutes someone is added to the kidney transplant list. 1
• In 2014, 4,761 patients died while waiting for a kidney transplant. Another, 3,668 people became too sick to receive a kidney transplant.1

CITATIONS

1. http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/

2. http://www.usrds.org/2015/view/v2_07.aspx

Facts and statistics provided by the United States Renal Data System, UNOS, and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) Annual Report.

These statistics do not take into account the number of dialysis patients, like me, who do not qualify to get a transplant. According to the US Dept of Health and Human Services, at the end of 2009, 398,861 ESRD patients were being treated with some form of dialysis. So, only about a fourth of people on dialysis are eligible for transplant.