Clarification: 70,000 Texans have kidney failure and are in need of dialysis or a transplant to sustain life.
AMARILLO, Texas(KAMR/KCIT) —April is National Donate Life Month an opportunity to raise awareness about life-giving organ donation.
Over 104,000 people in the U.S. need an organ transplant. 90% of them are people with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) who are on the kidney transplant waitlist. Healthy adults can live with one kidney, but just 6,466 of the 42,800 transplants in the U.S. last year were living donor transplants.
During National Donate Life Month, social workers with DaVita discuss the following:
- The process of living kidney donation and dispel any misinformation about living donorship
- How viewers can register to become a living kidney donor
- Tips for ESKD patients to initiate conversations about finding a living kidney donor
- How ESKD patients can stay transplant ready
In 2021, DaVita partnered with the National Kidney Foundation to launch the Big Ask Big Give. This program provides resources for transplant candidates to share their story and ask people to consider living kidney donation, as well as insight into the process for those thinking about becoming a living donor.
