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Monday, October 31, 2005 Press Release SOURCE: LifeSharers U.S. Transplant Wait List Tops 90,000 – LifeSharers Offers HopeLifeSharers Gives Organ Donors a Better Chance of Getting a Transplant NASHVILLE, Tenn. – October 31, 2005 – For the first time ever, over 90,000 people are waiting for organ transplants in the United States. Americans can increase their chances of getting a transplant by joining LifeSharers. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, 90,135 candidates were on the national transplant waiting list as of Friday, October 28th. In 2003, Dr. Robert Metzger, then UNOS’ President-Elect, testified before Congress that more than half of the people on the list would die before they got a transplant. “Anyone who wants to improve their odds of getting a transplant if they ever need one should join LifeSharers,” says David J. Undis, the organization’s Executive Director. “Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org, and we’re inviting everyone to join.” LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors. Members agree to donate their organs when they die. They also agree to offer their organs first to other LifeSharers members, if any member who needs them is a suitable match, before offering them to non-members. They do this through a form of directed donation that is legal in all fifty states and under federal law. “If you join LifeSharers today, you’ll get preferred access to the organs of over 3,300 members,” adds Mr. Undis, “and as our membership expands your chances of getting a transplant will keep getting better. We offer a very good trade. By donating your organs after you can’t use them any more, you could literally save your life.” By giving registered organ donors preferred access to their organs, LifeSharers creates an incentive for non-donors to register. It also makes organ allocation fairer. About 70% of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who haven’t agreed to donate their own organs when they die. Only about 30% of Americans are registered organ donors. Americans buried or cremated about 20,000 transplantable organs last year, about half of the available supply. Each of these organs could have saved a life. According to the UNOS, 43,118 people were added to the national transplant waiting list last year, 6,663 people were removed from the list because they had died, and 1,594 more were removed because while waiting they had become too sick to undergo transplant surgery. The waiting list has doubled in the last ten years. About LifeSharers LifeSharers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit network of organ donors staffed by unpaid volunteers. Membership in LifeSharers is free and open to all. LifeSharers does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical handicap, health status, marital status, or economic status. Since its launch on May 22, 2002, LifeSharers has attracted 3,302 members, including members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The LifeSharers web site is at http://www.lifesharers.org. Contact:
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