New Donation Initiative

Delivering on a promise he made on his first day on the job, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson launched a new national initiative to encourage and enable Americans to  "Donate the Gift of Life." 

Initial steps in the campaign included the launch of a national "Workplace Partnership for Life," in which employers, unions and other employee organizations will join in a nationwide network to promote donation. 

Secretary Thompson also released a model organ and tissue donor card, incorporating proven elements from today's donor cards.  But at the same time, he said that donor cards alone are not enough to enable Americans to be sure their wishes for donation will be known and carried out.  Therefore, he ordered an immediate review of the potential of organ and tissue registries where donors' wishes could be recorded electronically and made available to families and hospitals whenever needed. 

Secretary Thompson also pledged to create a national medal to honor the families of organ donors.  And he said HHS will create a model curriculum on donation for use in driver education courses, to be offered to states and counties nationwide. 

"This is just the beginning," Secretary Thompson said in launching his efforts.  "This initiative sets out to aggressively increase organ donation throughout America.  It lays the foundation upon which we can create the most comprehensive effort yet in our nation regarding donation and transplantation." 

The Secretary's Gift of Life Donation Initiative will encourage organ and tissue donation, as well as registration for marrow donation, and donation of blood. 

 "Workplace Partnership for Life" 

In a morning event for HHS employees, Thompson joined with representatives of the charter members of the Workplace Partnership.  Speaking from the same podium where he pledged on Feb. 2 to launch a donation campaign, Thompson invited companies and employee groups of all sizes to join the nationwide effort by making information on donation available to employees.  In particular, he cited provisions on promoting donation in labor/management contracts in the automobile industry. 

"The workplace is a great environment to get across the need for donation," Secretary Thompson said.  "With employers and employees working together, we can literally save thousands of lives.  This includes not only large corporations and unions, but also the local employer and the small staff of employees.  Everyone has a contribution to make." 

Charter members of the Workplace Partnership who joined in today's events at HHS are: 

General Motors  Ford Motor Company,  DaimlerChrysler Corporation  UAW  Verizon  3M  United States Postal Service  Bank of America  Aetna  AmericanAirlines  Ashland, Inc.  Aon Corporation  Barr Laboratories  Baxter Healthcare  Family Circle Magazine, a publication of Gruner + Jahr  MetLife Allfirst Bank Alticor 

Secretary Thompson also thanked The Coalition on Donation, whose mission is to educate the public about the need for organ and tissue donors, and The Marrow Foundation, whose mission is to raise awareness and funds for tissue typing potential marrow and blood stem cell donors, for their collaboration with HHS in making the Workplace Partnership a reality. 

Employers and employee groups will be encouraged to develop their own campaigns. The partnership will be drawn together by a new Web site, where innovative practices can be shared.  In addition, HHS will develop core information materials to complement those of its partners in the effort, to be made available to any workplace organization seeking to join the effort. 

 Model Donor Card 

Included in the materials would be the new model donor card released by HHS today.  Based on experience with existing cards, the model card includes provision for designating whether all organs and tissue may be donated, as well as lines for signatures by two witnesses.  Witnesses should be family members or others who are most likely to be contacted in an emergency, to help ensure that the donor's wishes will be carried out.  An informal survey performed at Thompson's request with the help of the American Bar Association confirmed that the card is compatible with state law in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. However, Secretary Thompson reiterated that "the donor card alone is not enough to guarantee that a donor's wishes will be known and carried out." More important, he said, is that families be aware of their loved ones' intentions. 

"Signing the card, and agreeing to donation on your driver's license, are good first steps.  They mean you've made the decision.   But the most important step is to be sure your family knows your wishes.  That way, at the terrible time when they might have to consent to donation, they would know what you wanted." 

National Forum on Donor Registries 

To help ensure that families and hospitals know an individual's wishes, Secretary Thompson said HHS should look at further steps, especially donor registries.  He said   HHS' Office of Inspector General will conduct a study of existing registries that have been established by 16 states.  He also ordered the Health Resources and Services Administration to quickly organize a national forum on the potential of registries, and the options available. The HRSA forum will include the National Governors' Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures, which can assist the Department in reviewing and implementing effective donor registries in all states. 

        "Helping individuals make the choice for donation is the first step," Secretary Thompson said.  "The next step is helping ensure that families and hospitals have access to that decision when the opportunity for donation may arise.  We need to learn quickly whether the registry approach should be supported throughout our nation, and if so what the best choices will be.  I want answers to those questions quickly." 

Gift of Life Medal, Model Curriculum 

        Secretary Thompson also said he supports efforts to create a national Gift of Life medal recognizing all families who consent to donation. 

        "We owe our thanks and recognition to every family that has such a great loss and makes such a great gift," Thompson said. 

He also announced HHS will create a model curriculum for drivers' education classes, to be offered to state and local education systems.  The driver education approach stems from a Wisconsin law inspired by Kelly Nachreiner, a teenager who was killed in an auto accident in 1999. 

Need for Donation 

        The need for organs for donation is growing almost twice as fast as the supply.  In 1990,  about 15,000 organs were transplanted while the number of persons on the list needing an organ totaled almost 22,000. According to an announcement Monday by HHS and the United Network for Organ Sharing, 22,827 organs were transplanted last year (a 5.3 percent increase over 1999), while the list of those needing a transplant has grown to more than 76,000 (a 10.2 percent increase in 2000). 

        Monday's announcement also said the number of cadavaric donors increased 2.7 percent in 2000, to 5,984.  Secretary Thompson called the increase "gratifying, but not at all as much as we need, and not as much as we can achieve." 

Further Efforts, Funding Available 

        Secretary Thompson pledged that further efforts will be launched under his initiative, including a review of potential federal responsibilities for monitoring the long-term safety and effectiveness of living donation (in which a kidney or part of a liver or lung are transplanted from a living donor to a recipient).  In recent years, living donation has been the fastest-growing source of transplanted organs, and SecretaryThompson said HHS should do its part to ensure safety and effectiveness of such procedures, for donor and transplant patients alike. 

        Secretary Thompson said he will also work with other federal agencies and state governments to promote donation awareness efforts, and examine other possible steps for ensuring that individuals' wishes to donate are recorded and carried out. 

        HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration also today announced availability of $3 million in new grant funds to support demonstrations of innovative approaches for increasing donation.  Earlier this month, Secretary Thompson released the HHS budget proposal for fiscal year 2002, which includes an increase of $5 million (33 percent) for the organ transplant and donation program at HRSA.