Mark Your Calendars for the 15th Anniversary of National Minority Donor Awareness Day

August 1 is the 15th Anniversary of National Minority Donor Awareness Day.

Alonzo Mourning on National Minority Donor Awareness Day

Minority populations in the United States, particularly African-Americans, are disproportionately affected by illnesses that can lead to the need for organ, tissue or eye transplants. In Illinois, nearly 5,000 people are on the organ transplant waiting list. Nearly 40 percent of these people are African-Americans, most of whom are waiting for a donor kidney.

Many of the conditions leading to the need for a transplant, such as diabetes and hypertension, occur with greater frequency among minority populations. National Minority Donor Awareness Day, observed annually on August 1, seeks to raise awareness of the urgent need for donors and transplants within the multicultural community. A secondary goal is to educate the public about donation facts and how to register their decision to donate life.

According to data from Donate Life America, minorities make up many of the people who receive organs but very few of those who donate. In 2010, 5,963 African-Americans received organ transplants, but only 2,089
African-Americans were donors. In the same year, 3,795 Latinos received an organ transplant, but only 1,953 Latinos were donors.

Although ethnicity and race are not determining factors in who receives donated organs, the success rates of transplants increase when organs are matched between members of the same ethnic and racial group. Lower donation rates among minorities can result in longer waiting periods for transplants for minority organ recipients. Currently, minorities make up 55 percent of the 111,000 people on the transplant waiting list in the United States.

Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Howard K. Koh and Founder of National Minority Donor Awareness Day, Dr. Clive O. Callendar

Individuals and organizations across the country are celebrating the 15th anniversary of National Minority Donor Awareness Day. Take this opportunity to build awareness within your home and your community. Share your decision to give life through organ and tissue donation.

In Chicago, Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network will host a press conference at Mt. Sinai Hospital to encourage all minority groups to register as organ and tissue donors.  Navigate to the full press release for additional details.

Take 30 seconds to register as an organ and tissue donor at DonateLifeIllinois.org!

Reader’s Digest for the Donation Community

Over the years we’ve seen many organ and tissue donation organizations introduce their story to the online world. Great news for all of us online news junkies who are now only clicks away from all donation related articles and blog postings.  When sorting through the day’s tweets, postings and publications, you’re bound to miss a story or blog post. The recently launched Transplant Awareness Daily can help. Updated each morning, the blog may become your one stop site for a round-up of the previous day’s news stories.

Articles are separated by topic, making it easier to browse for the story you’re looking for. Plus, translating the site into German and French only takes a click. Stories are pulled from a twitter stream managed by Angel Cove, the online shop for items with pro-donation messages including t-shirts, tote bags, buttons, gifts and cards. All of the profits from the shop are donated to a transplant charity.

Of course the Donate Life Organ & Tissue Donation Weblog remains a great resource for all the national news stories and blog posts that is updated frequently throughout the day, keeping up with the 24-hour news cycle. It’s great to have multiple resources to organize all the important transplant and donation stories that are shared each day.

Happy reading!

-Nick

There IS an app for that!

source: http://cgullworld.blogspot.com/2009/10/organ-donation-via-iphone.html

Registering as a donor just got easier for iPhone users. The New York Times recently wrote about an underused but convenient iPhone app that gives residents of any state the information and links needed to register.

The news is exciting since organizations throughout the country can utilize the app. As more and more people are using smart phones for research and connecting with organizations, this app is an answer to reaching them.  Hopefully similar applications will be developed for other mobile devices but for now, share away with iPhone users.

-Nick

Check out these articles for details:

Signing Up as an Organ Donor, the Easy Way – The New York Times

Organ donation? There’s an app for that. – Mother Nature Network

 

California Creates First Ever Living-Donor Registry

 

Photo credit: http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/archives/transplants/

 

Kudos to California! Largely in part to Apple CEO Steve Job’s lobbying, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a bill that creates the first living-donor registry for kidney transplants. This new registry will help facilitate living donations, including directed donations, non-directed donations and donations that are a part of transplant chains.

The new law also requires that residents will be asked to join the existing organ/tissue register when renewing licenses at DMV facilities. Currently, residents are not asked to joined the registry and must request to do so. According to the governor, only 25% of Californians are registered donors. Hopefully these changes will increase that number.

In the past, Steve was criticized for using his wealth to be listed on multiple transplant waiting lists in order to increase his chance of receiving a life-saving liver transplant. Now it’s great to see that Steve is working to increase the number of registered donors so others do not have to wait as long for transplants. Looks like we found ourselves an effective advocate! Now if only there was an app for that…

Take a look at the news stories covering the bill’s passing and, as always, share your thoughts below.

-Nick

Gizomodo takes a look at Steve Job’s involvement leading up to the bill’s signing.

Palo Alto Online explains the details of the bill.