Donate Life-PA Busts Organ Donation Myths With New Videos

HARRISBURG, Pa., July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its 2012 organ and tissue donor campaign, Donate Life Pennsylvania (Donate Life-PA), a partnership of the state's two organ procurement organizations and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, today unveiled two new videos designed to help debunk the myths around organ and tissue donation. In an effort to engage Pennsylvanians and raise awareness of organ and tissue donation, the videos will be shared through social media channels.

According to an August 2011 survey, one in four Pennsylvanians who are not currently registered as organ and tissue donors believe that, if they were ever seriously injured, doctors would not try to save their life – and have not become donors for that reason. Based on this data, one of the myth busting videos was specifically created to address this myth. Watch the video here.

The second video is aimed at dispelling the myth that monetary status plays a role in an individual's ability to receive an organ transplant. Watch the video here. "Wealth and social status have no bearing whatsoever on organ and tissue allocation," said Susan Stuart, President and CEO of the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE). "The matching system selects recipients based on blood and tissue typing, organ size, medical urgency, waiting time and geographic location. Donate Life-PA is releasing these videos to inform Pennsylvanians of these crucial facts."

"Nearly 30 percent of Pennsylvanians who stated that they are 'not at all likely' to become a registered organ donor stated that receiving information that dispels common myths about organ and tissue donation would motivate them to become a donor," said Howard M. Nathan, President and CEO of Gift of Life Donor Program. "These videos were created just for them, as a means of disseminating this important information in a venue that is convenient and widely used – social media."

Earlier this year, Donate Life Pennsylvania unveiled its 2012 organ and tissue donor campaign – a targeted effort to increase the number of registered donors in the state and across the nation. A component of the national effort led by Donate Life America, the overall goal of the campaign is to add 20 million new registered organ and tissue donors nationwide in 2012. Pennsylvania is working to add 150,000 new donors as a part of this outreach.

"It is our hope that Pennsylvanians will help to educate one another by sharing these videos and dispelling the myths that have become part of urban legend," added Stuart. "The millions of Pennsylvanians who already are registered donors can themselves become ambassadors, encouraging their family and friends to give the most precious gift of all: life."

The survey data was compiled by The Melior Group of Philadelphia in August 2011.

About Donate Life-PA

Donate Life-PA is a collaborative initiative between Gift of Life Donor Program and the Center for Organ & Recovery Education (CORE) – the two organ procurement organizations serving Pennsylvania – and the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Transportation. It is funded by state residents through voluntary contributions included with driver's license renewals, vehicle registrations and state income tax filings. All contributions are used by the Governor Robert P. Casey Memorial Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Trust Fund to educate residents, build awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation, and increase the number of people who sign up to become donors on their driver's license, learner's permit or state identification card. Visit us at DonateLife-PA.org or at Facebook.com/DonateLifePennsylvania.

About Gift of Life Donor Program

Since 1974, Gift of Life has served as the link between donors and patients awaiting life-saving transplants in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. Gift of Life Donor Program is the nation's most active and well-respected organ procurement organization, coordinating more than 32,000 life-saving organ transplants and hundreds of thousands of tissue transplants during the last 37 years.

About Center for Organ & Recovery Education (CORE)

The Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) is one of 58 federally designated not-for-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States.  CORE works closely with donor families and designated health care professionals to coordinate the surgical recovery of organs, tissues and corneas for transplantation.  CORE also facilitates the computerized matching of donated organs and placement of corneas.  With headquarters in Pittsburgh and an office in Charleston, West Virginia, CORE oversees a region that encompasses 155 hospitals and almost six million people throughout western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Chemung County, NY. 

Contact: Jenna Lefever
(717) 877-1103

SOURCE Donate Life-PA