NEW YORK ORGAN DONOR NETWORK APPEALS TO NEW YORKERS TO BECOME ORGAN AND TISSUE DONORS DURING NATIONAL DONATE LIFE MONTH IN APRIL

While the nation celebrates 50 years of successful organ transplants, thousands face death because of a shortage of donors

NEW YORK, NY, March 9, 2004 - As the nation celebrates the 50 th anniversary of the first successful organ transplant this year, it is alarming to realize that more than 6,000 Americans die each year because of a shortage of organs and that more than 83,000 are on the organ waiting list. With this in mind, the New York Organ Donor Network , the nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organization serving the Greater New York metropolitan area, is appealing to all New Yorkers to enroll in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry during National Donate Life Month in April .

Elaine Berg , president and CEO of the New York Organ Donor Network, said the New York metropolitan region has one of the lowest consent rates for donation in the nation because too few people say yes to donation. “While there is a shortage of donors nationwide, here, in New York , we face a particularly desperate situation, with 7,000 people clinging to life waiting for transplants for organs such as hearts, livers and kidneys. Thousands more need cornea, skin, bone, heart-valve and other types of tissue transplant. Given the need, we are especially grateful that National Donate Life Month is endorsed by Health and Human Services Secretary, Tommy G. Thompson . With his encouragement, this special month is set aside to help raise public awareness of the critical need for organ, tissue, marrow and blood donation. We appeal to New Yorkers make a special effort in April to enroll in the Donor Registry and then to tell their family members about their decision to become donors.”

Ms. Berg added: “Marking National Donate Life Month takes on an extra special significance in 2004. All 59 organ procurement organizations in the United States have been re-branded to offer a unified message. We are hopeful that by being called ‘A Donate Life Organization,' more and more people will know who to turn to with questions about donation. Also, the fact that 50 years ago, a Boston medical team of three doctors successfully completed the first kidney transplant, echoes our reassurances that transplantation is well beyond the experimental stage and continues to successfully save the lives of Americans of all races, ethnicity, race, gender and age.”

During National Donate Life Month, the Donor Network will hold displays and events for the public and at hospitals across the Greater New York metropolitan area to heighten awareness about donation. In some instances, transplant recipients, donor families and living donors will speak about their experiences. It is hoped that this educational blitz will encourage New Yorkers to enroll in the Donor Registry. They can do so by logging onto www.donatelifeny.org or by calling 1-800-GIFT-4-NY .

As a part of National Donate Life Month, the Donor Network will distribute “Donate Life,” an award-winning video presentation celebrating 25 years of the organ procurement organization's efforts at saving lives through donation. The video will be made available to all area transplant centers and hospitals. Businesses, religious and civic groups, organizations, colleges, high schools and members of the press can also request copies of the video tape that includes true stories by donor families and recipients.

In further commemoration of National Donate Life Month, the Donor Network plans to launch an eight-month initiative to increase organ and tissue donation on Long Island . The program, “Donate Life Long Island,” is expected to be launched at a press conference in late April and will mark the first time the Donor Network will invest in an integrated marketing campaign, comprised of paid and unpaid advertising and targeted and organized grass-roots public education programs.

The Donor Network will also support TRIO/Manhattan (Transplant Recipient International Organization), which will host an ecumenical service, “Remember and Rejoice”, at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Saturday, April 3. During this moving ceremony, donor families, living donors and transplant recipients will gather to celebrate the life-giving aspects of transplantation.

Other events include:

• A “Gift of Life” celebration at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System at 10 a.m. on April 2 at the Rust Auditorium at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. With teleconferencing to all of the health system's 12 owned and sponsored hospitals, the organizers anticipate the attendance to be in the hundreds. Each hospital will hold a short ceremony at the conclusion of the program to raise the health system's organ and tissue donation flag. Among the guests will be James Delisco , a former star of the Broadway show Aida .
• A public education day in Albany on April 14 organized by the New York State Alliance and the Greater New York Coalition on Donation , to raise awareness among New York legislators.
• Information tables set up at Long Island post offices to encourage people to enroll in the Donor Registry.
• The arrival in New York City on April 24 of “A Ride Across America” participants, transplant recipients who will travel across the nation on all-terrain vehicles to promote organ and tissue donation.

Throughout April , the Donor Network's e ducational efforts will focus on clearing up misconceptions about organ and tissue donation, such as that hospitals do not care for patients if they are aware that they have signed to become donors. The Donor Network points out that the first responsibility for any hospital is to save its patients' lives. If a patient has died or is proceeding to death, a different team of doctors and members of the Donor Network are called in to approach families about donation

NEW YORK STATE ORGAN AND TISSUE DONOR REGISTRY

Since it was launched in June 2000, the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry has collected more than 765,000 enrollments. The registry, administered by the New York State Department of Health, records an individual's intent to donate organs and tissues, so that in the event of death, family members know their wishes. It is a confidential database available only to health care personnel who are able to confirm whether a patient previously indicated a desire to be an organ and tissue donor.

New Yorkers are enrolled automatically in the registry when they check the donor box on their driver's license or non-driver identification card application or renewal form. Other ways of enrolling in the registry are online through the New York Organ Donor Network Web site www.donatelifeny.org or by calling 1-800-GIFT-4-NY .

NEW YORK ORGAN DONOR NETWORK

Founded in 1978, the New York Organ Donor Network is one of 59 nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organizations in the United States . The Donor Network, which celebrated its 25 th anniversary last November, is responsible for the recovery of organs and tissues for transplantation, and public and professional education efforts for a population of 13 million in the Greater New York metropolitan area. It serves the five boroughs of New York City , Long Island , the northern counties of Dutchess, Orange , Putnam , Rockland , and Westchester , as well as Pike County , PA. The Donor Network works closely with all health care delivery systems comprised of nine transplant centers and more than a hundred hospitals.

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF ORGAN TRANSPLANTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ¨ Contact: Martin Woolf (212) 870-3960; mwoolf@nyodn.org