U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America	Frequent Questions Search

Font Size     Print     Download Reader

This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated.

Concluding his first week on the job as HHS secretary, Thompson helped kick-off the fourth annual "National Donor Day" at the Chicago Auto Show. "National Donor Day" is a collaborative effort led by Saturn and the United AutoWorkers, making facilities available nationwide for individuals to make the pledge to be organ and marrow donors and to donate blood.

"We need a national donation effort that measures up to the medical miracle of organ transplantation," Secretary Thompson said. "We need to fully recognize the value of the gift that is made by donors and their families, and we need to bring about more donation to save more lives.

"Throughout our country, patients rely on their fellow Americans to be donors, and National Donor Day helps give all of us the opportunity to make that commitment," he said.

Thompson said that in his first 100 days in office, he plans to develop a new national effort to encourage organ donation. Today, some 74,000 Americans are on waiting lists for organ transplantation. In 1999, more than 6,100 Americans died while awaiting a transplant. About 22,000 organ transplants take place each year.

Although organ donation has increased almost 10 percent in the last three years, the number of individuals needing transplant has increased by about 30 percent.

###