On September 24, Vice President Albert Gore announced the implementation of a series of initiatives designed to increase organ donation nationwide, including a grant program worth $13 million.
The new initiatives include the following components:
In the grant program, $13 million will be awarded over three years in 18 separate grants to community-based organizations implementing strategies to increase organ donation. The approximately $5 million being awarded during the first year has already been released. The 18 projects include efforts to use the Internet for notifying families of an individual's desire to donate; to increase minority donations; to test donor education strategies in the workplace; and to improve the ability of health professionals to effectively handle end-of-life discussions and care.
On September 24, President William Clinton signed the Organ Donor Leave Act, which extends the leave that federal employees can take following organ donation — from the previous limit of seven days — to 30 days in addition to sick or annual leave. Sponsors of the legislation hope that the federal government, as the nation's largest employer, will set an example that private and other public organizations will follow.
New television public service announcements designed to educate families about organ donation have been released. The ads were developed by the Coalition of Donation in conjunction with Buena Vista Television and the United Network for Organ Sharing. They will be distributed to all major networks and cable stations and are expected to receive about $10 million worth of donated airtime.
Beginning in December, four regional conferences will be held to promote best practices in working with the families of potential donors. The conferences will bring together health care providers and transplant professionals from hospitals and organ procurement organizations. A new resource guide developed by the Department of Health and Human Services, "Roles and Training for the Donation Process," will be used to educate attendees.
The initiatives represent the ongoing work of the Clinton administration's National Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative, which Mr. Gore announced in December 1997. The initiative's website is at www.organdonor.gov. A list of the grantees and their projects is posted at www.hhs.gov/news/press/1999pres/990924a.html.
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