Organ Donation > News > HHS Expands Initiative, Promotes Safety

Organ Donation: Organ & Tissue Donation is a Family Decision. Sharing your decision to become a donor is just as important as making the decision yourself.


	News Room On this page: News \| National Recurring Events \| Legislative Updates News 10/24/2003 Statement by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Regarding Award-Winning Documentary on Organ Donation 9/9/2003 The Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative: Best Practices Final Report 9/2/2003 West Nile Virus Transmission Through Organ Transplantation Alert 8/20/2003 HHS Awards $4.27 Million to Spur Organ and Tissue Donation 8/15/2003 United Auto Workers - General Motors Targets 150,000 Employees With Donation Information in the September/October issue of LifeSteps, the employee newsletter sent to 150,000 households. The newsletter contains a 4-page insert on organ and tissue donation and UAW-GM wallet-size organ donor cards. The UAW-GM also promoted organ and tissue donation at a Health and Safety Fair at General Motors Headquarters in January 2003. The fair focused on Arab Americans and other minorities and was held in partnership with the International Association for Organ Donation, a Dearborn, MI organization. 8/12/2003 Workplace for Life Celebration Day: Asheville, NC 185-plus Workplace Partners hosted a combined blood/marrow/organ and tissue donor drive. Sponsors included the Buncombe County Medical Society, Western North Carolina Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative, City of Asheville, Buncombe County Commission and Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. Workplace for Life Celebration Day Remarks by HRSA Administrator Asheville Citizen-Times Workplace for Life Celebration story (not a U.S. Government Web site) 6/3/2003 HHS Expands Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative, Promotes Living Donation Safety and Awareness 5/11/2003 Mother's Day Contest Goes to Mom who Promotes Organ and Tissue Donation "My mother, Mary, has always been the glue that holds us all together," wrote Nicole Nachreiner in her winning nomination letter to capture a Hawaiian vacation prize for her mother, Mary. That family bond was tested in 1999 when Nicole's 16-year-old sister, Kelly, was killed in a car accident. Mary followed through on Kelly's wishes to be an organ donor, and several lives were saved. The Nackreiner's generosity, and Mary's leadership, fired up the Wisconsin legislature to create "progressive legislation that requires all driver education courses to include at least 30 minutes of instruction relating to organ and tissue donation," wrote Nicole in this heart-felt letter. Nicole's letter (not a U.S. Government Web site) 4/28/2003 Montana Is First State to Enroll in Workplace Partnership for Life HHS Secretary Receives 2003 Congressional Transplantation Public Policy Award 3/7/2003 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson Designates April as National Donate Life Month 11/26/2002 HHS Secretary Thompson Announces Blood Donation Initiative 9/27/2002 HHS Awards $5.2 Million for Research to Increase Organ Donation Rates 9/11/2002 HRSA Alert: Possible West Nile Virus Transmission Through Organ Transplantation 4/22/2002 HHS Announces 7 Percent Increase in Organ Donors in 2001, Olympic Medal Winner Chris Klug Encourage Americans To Give The Gift of Life "Gift of Life" Donation Initiative 4/9/2002 HHS Secretary Unveils Organ Donation Documentary, "No Greater Love" 10/3/2001 HHS Grants Will Expand Study of Strategies to Increase Organ and Tissue Donation 8/17/2001 HHS Secretary Adds New Members to Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation 8/10/2001 Essex County, New Jersey First Local Government to Participate in Secretary's Workplace Partnership for Life 4/20/2001 HHS Secretary Details "Gift of Life" Donation Initiative 4/17/2001 HHS Secretary Launches New Donation Initiative, Promising Long-Term Commitment and Partnerships HHS Will Expand Funds to Study Ways to Increase Organ and Tissue Donations 4/16/2001 Total Organ Donations Rise More Than 5 Percent in 2000; Cadaveric Donation Increases 2.7 Percent 4/12/2001 HRSA's FY 2001 Proposed Budget Would Increase Spending for Health Centers, Transplantation Efforts BACK TO TOP National Recurring Events January: National Volunteer Blood Donor Month A time to highlight the importance of giving life through the donation of blood and to honor past and present donors and encourage new ones. The theme, Give Blood ...The Gift of Life, is as constant, as the need for blood. February 14: National Donor Day Focused on five points of life: organs, tissues, marrow, platelets, and blood. Many nonprofit health organizations sponsor blood and marrow drives and organ/tissue donor card signings across the Nation. Initiated by the Saturn Cooperation and its United Auto Worker partners. More National Donor Day information (not a U.S. Government Web site) April: National Donate Life Month Organ procurement organizations, transplant centers, and other organizations sponsor special awareness events and donor recognition ceremonies to promote donation awareness. Proclamation by the President of the United States \| U.S. Department of Health and Human Services news release \| History August 1: National Minority Donor Awareness Day Intensive awareness campaign focuses on obstacles related to minorities and donation, promotes healthy living and disease prevention to decrease the need for transplantation and reaches out to all ethnic groups. Observances have included prayer breakfasts, health walks, and donor drives. Sponsored by the National Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program 2003 Press Release \| More National Minority Donor Awareness Day information (not a U.S. Government Web site) November: National Marrow Awareness Month A special nationwide effort to recruit volunteer marrow, blood stem cell, and umbilical cord blood donors and to increase patient awareness of the option of unrelated transplantation. More marrow donation information (not a U.S. government Web site) November, Two Weekends Before Thanksgiving: National Donor Sabbath Faith communities across the country focus on the critical need for organs, tissues, marrow, and blood, and their life-enhancing capabilities. Faith leaders participate in discussions of donation with their congregants, and faith communities sponsor donation awareness activities during this 3-day celebration of life. National Donor Sabbath 2003 Alternating odd-numbered years: National Donor Recognition Ceremony & Workshop Donors and their families from across the country are honored in the Nation's Capital by the Federal government and the transplant community for giving the Gift of Life. Includes Saturday workshops and a donor recognition ceremony on Sunday. National Donor Recognition Ceremony 2003 information Alternating even-numbered years: U.S. Transplant Games Olympic-style athletic events for transplant recipients celebrate the life-enabling gifts given by organ and tissue donors. Organized by the National Kidney Foundation. Medals are awarded to recipient winners, and to living donors and donor family members at separate recognition ceremonies. The Transplant Games illustrate that transplantation works to extend and enhance life. More U.S. Transplant Games information BACK TO TOP Legislative Updates 4/16/2002 Congressional Organ Donation Bills - Summaries 11/16/2001 Analysis of State Actions Regarding Donor Registries Update 12/21/2000 Expanded Medicare Coverage for Transplant Recipients Announced 3/22/2000 Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Final Rule Federal Register Notice 1/4/2000 Analysis of State Actions Regarding Donor Registries 10/20/1999 Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 Federal Register Notice Amendments to the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) Final Rule (42 CFR Part 121) Fact Sheet on Improving the Nation's Organ Transplantation System (Adobe Acrobat - get the free Reader) Preamble and Text of the Amended Final Rule (Adobe Acrobat - get the free Reader) Federal Register publication of the Final Rule (Adobe Acrobat - get the free Reader) HRSA News Brief - Amended Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Final Rule Announced HRSA Fact Sheet - HHS Rule Responds to Institute of Medicine Recommendations and Public Comments Organ Donation Program Report to Congress BACK TO TOP

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