More than 1,100 American Indians and Alaska Natives are waiting for someone to donate the organ that will save their lives. Most—986—are waiting for a kidney, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Many will not find an organ donor in time.
The shortage of organs for transplant affects all ethnic and racial groups. According to Health and Human Services, 22 people in the U.S. die each day while waiting for an organ.
