The number of cadaver organ donors in the United States edged up in 2001 by only 1.5 percent to 6,077, and was exceeded for the first time by the rapidly increasing number of Americans donating a kidney or part of their livers for transplant, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The number of living donors surged by 12.5 percent from 5,726 in the year 2000 to a new high of 6,445 in 2001, officials said. The annual number of living donors has more than doubled over the past eight years.

During the same period, despite major efforts by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and his predecessor Donna Shalala to encourage increased public support for cadaver donation, the number of cadaver donors has crept up at an average rate of just over 2 percent a year.

Cadaver donors remain the most important source of organs, since several organs generally are transplanted from each cadaver while only a single organ is transplanted from a living donor.

The most encouraging news in this year's numbers was a surge in donation among minorities, where donor rates have historically been lower than among the U.S. population as a whole.

Hispanic donors increased to 1,492 in 2001, up nearly 14 percent from the previous year; while black donors increased 13 percent to 1,620, according to DHHS officials..

Other sources: DHHS