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The Organ Shortage Can Be Fixed

David J. Undis

David J. Undis is Executive Director of LifeSharers, = a=20 non-profit organ donation network that gives its members a better chance = of=20 getting an organ transplant if they ever need one. Membership is free = and open=20 to all at http://www.lifesharers.org. LifeSharers does not discriminate = on the=20 basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national = origin, age,=20 physical handicap, health status, marital status, or economic = status.

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David J. Undis

May 4, 2006

National Donate Life Month came and went in April, a nation-wide = effort to=20 raise awareness of the need for more organ donations. Throughout the = month,=20 people all over America gave speeches and wore green ribbons. TV = stations urged=20 their viewers to sign organ donor cards, and newspapers ran stories = about people=20 whose lives were saved when they got an organ transplant.

Also during April, about 1,200 American families were asked for = permission to=20 transplant the organs of a deceased loved one. Half of them refused. = They buried=20 or cremated almost 2,000 transplantable organs. So during National = Donate Life=20 Month, over 500 Americans died waiting for organ transplants.

Awareness-raising efforts like the ones we saw last month have been = going on=20 for 20 years. But despite the wonderful efforts of lots of fine people = and=20 organizations, the organ shortage has grown larger every year. And = there=92s no=20 end in sight. Over 92,000 people are on the national transplant waiting = list=20 right now, and another 45,000 will join the list this year. More than = half of=20 them will die before they get an organ transplant, because the waiting = list is=20 growing five times as fast as the list of donors.

We don=92t need more awareness. Almost everybody is already aware of = the need=20 for more organ donors. We need action. About 90% of Americans think = organ=20 donation is a good thing, but only about 40% are registered organ = donors.

Why does this big gap exist? It=92s because we=92ve been asking = people to agree=20 to have their bodies cut into pieces when they die =96 not a pleasant = thing to=20 think about =96 without giving them anything in return.

Federal law prohibits using money to motivate organ donation, but = there are=20 other ways to reward organ donors without using money. We can reduce the = organ=20 shortage by putting registered organ donors at the front of the = transplant=20 waiting list. This gives everybody a strong incentive to register, = because=20 anybody who doesn=92t will go to the back of the waiting list.

While the transplant bureaucrats aren=92t ready to adopt this common = sense=20 policy, you don=92t have to let them decide who gets your organs when = you die. You=20 can donate your organs to other organ donors by joining LifeSharers. = Membership=20 is free and open to all at http://www.lifesharers.org.

LifeSharers is a grass-roots non-profit network of organ donors. = Members=20 agree to donate their organs when they die. They also direct that their = organs=20 be offered first to other members before being offered to the general = public.=20 This is legal in all 50 states and under federal law. By directing their = organs=20 first to registered organ donors, LifeSharers members create a powerful=20 incentive for others to register as organ donors and join the network. = This=20 incentive is the key to reducing the organ shortage and saving lives. = Let=92s face=20 it =96 if organ transplants were only available to registered organ = donors, then=20 just about everybody would register.

LifeSharers also makes the organ allocation system fairer. As long as = there=20 is a shortage, it's just not fair to give organs to people who won't = donate=20 their own. It=92s like giving the lottery jackpot to someone who = didn=92t buy a=20 ticket.

For the sake of everyone who needs an organ or might need one = tomorrow, it's=20 time we acknowledge that raising awareness isn't the solution to the = organ=20 shortage. Let=92s try something else. Let=92s donate our organs to other = organ=20 donors.

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The Organ Shortage Can Be Fixed