LIHU‘E — There are numerous organizations dedicated to promote public awareness and increasing the humber of organ, tissue and eye donors in Hawai‘i. Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. is also personally acquainted with people needing organ transplants, and that made declaring
LIHU‘E — There are numerous organizations dedicated to promote public awareness and increasing the humber of organ, tissue and eye donors in Hawai‘i.
Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. is also personally acquainted with people needing organ transplants, and that made declaring April National Donate Life Month a bit easier.
Dustin Wright, the communications coordinator for the Organ Donor Center of Hawai‘i made a special trip to Kaua‘i to join Roger Ariola in accepting the proclamation.
Wright said the Organ Donor Center launched an online organ donor registry April 1.
The launch of the program was not done to coincide with the month-long program that honors those who have given the gift of life while encouraging families and individuals to register as organ and tissue donors, Wright said.
“One of the most important things about the online registry is that it is an interactive educational Web site,” said Stephen Kula, executive director of the Organ Donor Center of Hawai‘i in a release. “The site answers many of the questions surrounding donation and allows people to share with their loved ones which is absolutely essential.”
In Hawai‘i, more than 370 people are waiting for heart, liver, kidney or pancreas transplants and each organ and tissue donor can help up to 50 people with life-saving and life-enhancing procedures, the mayoral proclamation states.
Additionally, there are hundreds of others in need of cornea, bone or other forms of tissue transplants so they can lead healthier lives.
Kula is hopeful the online registry program will help increase the number of people who register to become donors.
“Hawai‘i has a donor consent percentage rate in the mid-40s, the lowest in the nation,” Kula said. “The national average is between 50 to 70 percent.”
So far, 30 states have found that statewide online organ donor registries with accompanying education and awareness program can make a difference in donor consent rates. The release cites as examples Arizona and Virgina, where donors doubled in the first two years following the adoption of their respective online registries in 2003.
“Our Aloha tradition of caring and compassion for others will help us increase the number of organ donors among Hawai‘i residents,” the proclamation states.
Education, legislative support, partnerships with local hospitals, attention from the media and visibility has helped to increase the number of organ donations and transplants.
Currently, more than 300,000 Hawai‘i drivers have checked off the organ donor box on their driver’s license, but although this is an “advanced directive,” it often fails because family members are not aware of the decision and fail to give consent.
The gifts of life, sight and healing are truly the most generous and honorable gifts one person can share with another.
For more information, visit www.organdonorhawaii.com
•Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com
