Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

US surpasses 1m organ transplant milestone since first surgery in 1954

US surpasses 1m organ transplant milestone since first surgery in 1954

Medical advocates across the country are now pushing for 1m more transplants with increasing number of patients seeking procedure

Medical advocates across the United States have launched a new push for 1m more organ transplants, after the milestone figure of the 1 millionth transplant in the US was met at the end of last week.

Since the first kidney transplant was performed in 1954, the US has surpassed over 1m transplants. Nevertheless, with more patients seeking the procedure than ever before, the demand for organ donors has grown significantly.

As a result, organ transplant advocates have launched a new campaign for another million transplants to be performed in the coming years.

A record-breaking 41,356 transplants were performed in 2021, the Associated Press reported. Across the country, over 400,000 people are currently living with functioning transplanted organs, United Network for Sharing Organs (UNOS) said on Friday.

However, 105,000 people are still on the national waiting list as they wait for new organs such as kidneys, livers and hearts. In addition, another 17 people die daily while waiting, according to the Associated Press. Currently, kidneys are the highest in demand across the country.

Despite the high demand, a report released earlier this year by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found a “significant non-use of donated organs” along with other disparities.

Approximately one in five kidneys from deceased donors are not used. Additionally, Black Americans are three times more likely to suffer from kidney failure compared to white Americans. They are also “substantially less likely” to be placed on waiting lists or even eventually receive an organ.

Moreover, a Senate finance committee investigation discovered additional problems such as testing failures between 2008 and 2015 which led to 249 transplant recipients developing diseases from donated organs, 70 of whom died, the Associated Press reports.

In other instances, organs that were transported from one hospital to another were lost in transit or delayed so long they were no longer usable.

Congress has lambasted UNOS for its failure to enforce a centralized logistical system. “This is sitting on your hands while people die,” Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren told the organization’s chief executive. Warren and other senators have called for UNOS to be replaced.

UNOS has in the recent years been making attempts to alleviate logistical obstacles. It ordered a change in the ways organs are distributed, allowing kidneys to be transported to sicker patients who are further away instead of being given first to hospitals that are closer to where they are donated. In turn, kidney transplants increased 16% last year – and by 23% among Black patients.

Additionally, UNOS has asked hospitals to stop using a certain formula to test kidney function that can underestimate Black patients’ need for a transplant and leave them waiting longer than similarly ill white patients, the Associated Press reports.

In attempts to achieve the next million transplants, UNOS has laid out four objectives as part of its Living It Forward campaign.

Those include increasing equity to ensure transplants are fair and more accessible to all, getting more organs transplanted by expanding the donor pool, harnessing new technologies including enhanced transportation logistics and newer data tools, and further empowering patients through trust and transparency.

“The organ donation and transplant community has made lifesaving history together,” said Jerry McCauley, president of the UNOS Board of Directors. “Now, we invite donor families, organ transplant candidates and recipients, living organ donors and others touched by transplant to join Living It Forward and honor and celebrate the gifts that made this important milestone possible.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
×