HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson recently announced 15 grants totaling more than $4.3 million to test the effectiveness of social and behavioral, clinical, and media-based interventions to increase organ and tissue donation.  He also recognized six executives of national associations and their organizations for working to promote the donation of organs, tissue, marrow and blood.
 
The grants are administered by HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration.  Grantees in the clinical intervention program, which evaluates methods to increase the number of organs recoverable from donors, and the social and behavioral intervention program won three-year grants; the media program supports two-year grants.  Tables below list grantees and their first-year awards only.
 
“We are making progress in educating the nation about the value of donation and the continuing need to increase the number of people who sign up to be donors,” said Secretary Thompson.  “These projects will go further to test what works to encourage Americans – and especially minority Americans -- to sign up to be donors and save lives.”
 
The association executives recognized by Secretary Thompson and their organizations have been active supporters of the Secretary’s Workplace Partnership for Life initiative, which encourages private companies, not-for-profit associations and other organizations to educate their workforce, members and customers about the life-saving potential of donation.   More than 10,000 entities have joined the Workplace Partnership, including more than 800 national, state and local associations.
 
The honorees are Neil H. Offen, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Direct Selling Association; C. Peter Magrath, President of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; Larry Minnix, President and CEO of the   American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging; Susan Sarfati, President and CEO of the Center for Association Leadership; William Bergman, President and CEO of William S. Bergman Associates; and Don DeBolt, President of the International Franchise Association.
 
The Workplace Partnership efforts and a separate initiative to boost donation rates at major trauma hospitals sparked a 4.3 percent increase in organ donation in the United States during 2003.  That increase was followed by an jump of 10.3 percent through the first half of 2004, compared to the same period in 2003.  Back-to-back increases of this size are unprecedented in the 50-year history of U.S. transplantation surgery.  Increases in donation rates have typically averaged 1 percent to 2 percent annually.
 
More information about the Gift of Life Donation initiative is available at www.organdonor.gov.
 
 

Social and Behavioral Interventions to Increase Organ and Tissue Donation FY 2004 Grants
Institution and Project	City	State	Award
National Kidney Foundation of Illinois	Chicago	Ill.	$200,979
Tulane University	New Orleans	La.	235,022
University of Maryland Surgical Associates, PA	Baltimore	Md.	213,381
National Kidney Foundation of Michigan	Ann Arbor	Mich.	246,038
The Sharing Network	New Brunswick	N.J.	512,620
Upstate New York Transplant Services, Inc.	Buffalo	N.Y.	164,871
National Kidney Foundation of North Carolina	Charlotte	N.C.	377,145
Subtotal:			$1,950,056

 
 

Clinical Interventions to Increase Organ Procurement FY 2004 Grant
Institution and Project	City	State	Award
Carolina Donor Services	Durham	N.C.	$395,746
Subtotal:			$395,746

 
 

Media-Based, Grass-Roots Efforts to Increase Minority Solid Organ Donation FY 2004 Grants
Institution and Project	City	State	Award
Donor Network of Arizona	Phoenix	Ariz.	$285,000
New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network	Springfield	N.J.	312,000
Upstate New York Transplant Services	Buffalo	N.Y.	274,739
Carolinas Medical Center	Charlotte	N.C.	295,828
Upper Midwest Organ Procurement Organization, Inc. dba LifeSource	St. Paul	Minn.	250,000
LifeBanc	Cleveland	Ohio	341,400
Mid-South Transplant Foundation, Inc.	Memphis	Tenn.	205,955
Subtotal:			$1,964,922
TOTAL:			$4,310,724