April designated National Donate Life Month

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson recently announced that April will be observed as National Donate Life Month to help raise public awareness of the critical need for organ, tissue, marrow and blood donation.

Organ Recovery takes new name On Tuesday (April 1), NHS Organ Recovery Services changed its name to Donate Life Services. “This change reflects our commitment to donation and better differentiates our department from the Nebraska Organ Recovery System,” said Kolleen Thompson, manager of NHS Donate Life Services.

In the past, the third week in April was designated as “National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week.” The change to a month-long observance underscores Secretary’s Thompson’s commitment to donation, which began with his launching of the Gift of Life Donation Initiative just 75 days after taking office, and gives donation and transplant organizations more time to sponsor public awareness activities in their communities.

“I am pleased to see the extension of a more unified national campaign to address the critical shortage of organ and tissue donations,” said Kolleen Thompson, manager of NHS Donate Life Services, formerly known as Organ Recovery Services. “Maybe with this concentrated effort we will be able to help more patients who are in need of a life saving organ transplant.”

The gift of life

Thousands of people have already recognized the importance of giving the gift of life to others. In 2002, 22,741 organ transplants and more than 46,000 corneal transplants were performed in the United States and an average of 173 transplants were facilitated each month by the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. At NHS, 204 transplants, including liver, small bowel, kidney and pancreas, were performed in 2002.

Need remains

The need, however, is still enormous. Close to 81,000 individuals are on the waiting list in the United States for organ transplants and thousands need tissue and corneal transplants each year. About 30,000 people a year are diagnosed with blood diseases that may be cured by a marrow/blood stem cell transplant. And, each day approximately 32,000 units of blood are needed, yet only about 5 percent of eligible blood donors give blood regularly.

“Each year the month of April brings springtime and nature’s renewal,” Secretary Thompson said. “Now, each April will remind all Americans of their own ability to renew and enhance life through the gift of donation.”

For more information

More information on the National Donate Life Month is available at organdonor.gov. For more information about Organ and Tissue donation, contact NHS Donate Life Services at 559-9566 or visit NebraskaTransplant.org.