2019: Record-setting year for living donation

in focus

2019 was a record-setting year for living donation, with 7,397 living donor organ donations performed across the country — far exceeding the 2004 record of 6,992, and increasing the nationwide rate by 5.8 percent.

Across the country, living donor organ transplants are on the rise — with no sign of slowing down.

The record-setting increase follows a steady trend. Between 2014 and 2019, the number of living donor kidney transplants in the U.S. increased 24 percent and the number of living donor liver transplants climbed 87.1 percent, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

One living donor liver transplant program increased their volume by more than 600 percent in just two years.

Transplant teams across the country are taking deliberate steps to make the living donation procedure available to more people through creative strategies such as:

Crowdsourcing living donors.
Using online portals to streamline the donor identification and evaluation process.
Dedicating resources to the kidney paired donationcomponent of transplant programs.
Educating the next generation of organ donation and transplantation professionals.

As these transplant teams across the country expand the donor pool in their regions, they are setting a precedent that they hope other programs will follow.

How else is the donation and transplant community working together to increase living donation? Read more about what members are doing to save more lives.

Want to learn more about living donation? Get started here.