There are more than 100,000 people in the United States waiting for an organ transplant, and they could be waiting a while. A little more than 50% of people waiting for an organ will receive one within five years because of the shortage of organs available. The organ donation system in the U.S. is designed to save as many lives as possible without wasting available organs, but there are built-in inequalities that affect who has access. People of color, people of lower socioeconomic status and women receive transplants at a lower rate and are also more likely to wait longer for an organ than patients with similar medical issues. The medical community has been working on ways to increase the supply by using live donors for organs like kidneys, organs from animals and even mechanical organs. Watch the video above to learn how the U.S. organ transplant system works and what we can do to increase supply while decreasing inequality.
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Why Americans Wait So Long For Organs
