ing on ethical concerns and proposals already present within the transplantation community and drawing on the ethical perspectives that inform this report. These recommendations focus on the need for better information for improved risk-benefit analyses by transplantation teams, donor advocates, and potential donors themselves and on the increased use of independent donor advocate teams committed to the rights and welfare of the donor as patient, before, during, and after the donation.

The recommendations provided in this report set forth a number of actions that the committee believes can have a positive impact on organ donation (Table S-2). Together, these recommendations identify a set of actions that in isolation might have only limited results but that in concert should strengthen ongoing efforts and open up new opportunities to increase the supply of transplantable organs, thereby saving the lives and improving the quality of life of many individuals.

It is the committee’s hope that this report will contribute to the development and implementation of new efforts to increase the rates of organ donation. In addition, the committee hopes that these efforts, along with concurrent actions focused on the prevention of health conditions that lead to the need for transplantation and research to explore alternatives to transplantation, will significantly reduce the size of the organ transplant waiting list in the near future.