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Despite their best intentions, potential living donors often face significant barriers during the process— from confusion about steps they need to take to a lack of clear guidance and transparency. It is common for these altruistic individuals to lose momentum or feel overwhelmed by the requirements for donor testing. To address these challenges, we advocate for a streamlined, well-designed process that ensures donors receive education, peer support, and clear information about their rights and protections at transplant centers. This approach also focuses on making donation as convenient as possible by offering opportunities to donate at transplant centers close to the donor’s home, ensuring the donor’s close loved ones can be involved throughout the process. By removing obstacles and providing ongoing support, this structured approach empowers individuals to follow through with their decision to donate, ultimately saving lives and making a lasting impact.
The rise in kidney disease, the staggering cost of dialysis, and the human suffering that is caused by end-stage renal disease shed light on the kidney deficit. This is one of the more urgent and complex medical issues our country faces today. While complex problems often demand multi-faceted solutions, most experts agree that increased awareness about living organ donation is one of the greatest steps forward. This is particularly true within diverse communities where people of color are at increased risk for kidney disease. 14% of adult Americans are affected by kidney disease, but these rates are even higher among people of color. By raising awareness of living kidney donation, we can not only address, but reduce, these disparities while saving even more lives.
Public awareness campaigns have led to considerable change, and we have witnessed it. For example, consider the case of deceased organ donation. In the U.S., many people are aware that they can register as a deceased organ donor by completing a simple act, signing their driver’s license. However, this has unfortunately led to a huge misconception: that signing the back of your driver’s license is the most impactful thing you can do to help those in need of a transplant.
Current UNOS policy ensures equity for patients on the transplant waiting list, but racial disparities occur before individuals even reach that point. When patients are diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, nephrologists should recommend transplantation as the primary treatment. However, data indicates that African Americans and Hispanics are not consistently offered kidney transplants as a treatment option compared to other ethnic groups (UNOS).
Additionally, African Americans face significant barriers to accessing renal transplantation, despite being nearly four times more likely to experience kidney failure than non-Hispanic whites due to higher rates of diabetes and hypertension. This disparity is troubling given that renal transplantation is one of the best treatment options for end-stage kidney disease and leads to benefits such as reduced mortality, improved quality of life, and lower healthcare costs.
A study by the Medicare/Medicaid Research Review found that one year after renal failure, Caucasians were almost four times more likely to receive a transplant than African Americans (22.7% compared to 6.0%). Asian Americans (15.5%) and Native Americans (12.1%) also have transplantation rates more than double that of African Americans. As a result, African Americans continue to wait longer than other ethnic groups for lifesaving kidney transplants when suffering from renal failure.
Staggering national economic statistics instantly establish the enormous epidemic scale of the kidney disease crisis.
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