April 27, 2018 – Women and Donation

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Anchor lead: Women are more likely than men to donate one of their kidneys, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Live donation of kidneys, where someone voluntarily chooses to give up one of their organs to someone who needs one, really helps reduce the number of people on the waiting list for transplantation. Now a new study shows that a few years ago men and women were equally likely to choose donation, but now women far outnumber men. Clint Burns, a nurse and transplant coordinator at Johns Hopkins, explains.

Burns: Over the ten year period women’s donations remained stable but men’s declined, particularly in lower income groups. Researchers suggest that this may be because the financial cost of donating a kidney bars them from donation. Currently the insurance company of the recipient will pick up the cost of the hospital stay and cost of the transplant. Maryland did pass the law that you do get a tax break if you are a living donor, which is a little more than $6000.00.  :26

Burns notes that removing financial barriers should encourage more live donation nationally. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.