Organ Transplant Crisis: A New Approach

April is National Donate Life Month, and 100,000 people in the U.S. are racing the clock for their survival. They need an organ transplant, and over half of these individuals will die before getting their life-saving operation.

The issue is not shortage of organs, but a shortage of donors, according to David J. Undis, executive director of LifeSharers (www.lifesharers.org), a non-profit network of organ donors.

In the time it takes for 8,000 of these transplant hopefuls to die, approximately 20,000 viable organs will be thrown away – buried or cremated with their owners. LifeSharers wants to change that by giving people a chance to save their own lives by agreeing to donate their organs after they die.

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Governor Signs Law Promoting Organ Donation

TRENTON – A new law signed by acting Gov. Richard Codey last week will soon force all New Jersey residents getting a driver’s license to consider becoming organ donors.

The NJ Hero Act also makes New Jersey the first state in the country to incorporate organ donation education into the high school curriculum, beginning in the 2009-10 school year.

“Our goal is to generate a collective awareness about the importance of organ donation so that those who want to donate, will,” said Codey, who sponsored the legislation. Codey served as acting governor while Gov. Jon Corzine was in Israel on a trade mission.

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