National Pediatric Transplant Week: Raising Awareness of the 2,000 Children on Transplant Waiting List

National Pediatric Transplant Week is recognized the last full week (19th – 25th) in April of National Donate Life Month. This observance focuses on the powerful message of ending the need for a pediatric transplant waiting list. Throughout Pediatric Transplant Week, clinical partners share patient stories; donor families whose children have saved and healed lives through organ and tissue donation are honored; and recipient families share their thanks and milestone celebrations.

There are currently more than 2,000 children under the age of 18 waiting for a variety of organ transplants. More than 700 of them are younger than 6 years old. Although many of the conditions necessitating transplant can occur as early as infancy, the needs per age group vary. Most children ages 6-10 are waiting for a kidney transplant.*

This week-long national observance recognizes the critical need for pediatric organ transplants. National Pediatric Transplant Week is an opportunity to recognize the contributions made each day in restoring young lives while highlighting the critical need that still exists for additional pediatric transplants.

LifeGift will honor wait list patients, donor families and transplant recipients on our social media channels. Be sure to join us in observing National Pediatric Transplant Week, April 19th – 25th!

Thanks to the generosity of donors and their families, organ donation saves tens of thousands of lives across the U.S. each year. To register as a life-saving organ, eye and tissue donor, visit www.donatelifetexas.org.

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