For immediate release: November 1, 2007
Contact: Anne McMillin, APR, Public Relations Specialist
Office 775-682-9254
Mobile 702-292-4247
amcmillin@medicine.nevada.edu
Nevada Organ and Tissue Donor Program celebrates Donor Sabbath
National Donor Sabbath recognized throughout November
LAS VEGAS/RENO, Nev.— The Nevada Organ and Tissue Donor Program, a special program of the University of Nevada School of Medicine, is kicking off the holiday season by celebrating the 12th Annual National Donor Sabbath.
National Donor Sabbath, which is recognized throughout the month of November, presents a great opportunity for faith-based communities throughout the country to talk about the importance of organ and tissue donation. Virtually every religion in the United States supports organ and tissue donation as one of the greatest expressions of compassion and generosity. Nevada’s Organ and Tissue Donor Program is working with religious communities across the state to promote the importance of organ and tissue donation among their congregations.
“There are more than 97,000 people on the national donor waiting list,” says Trudy Larson, M.D., director of the Nevada Organ and Tissue Donor Program and a medical school professor. “Donor Sabbath is a way of encouraging people of faith—no matter what holiday their house of worship observes—to sign up to become organ donors during the holiday season.”
Larson continues, “Most major religions in the U.S. support organ and tissue donation, yet many families do not consent to donation because they believe their religion does not support it; Donor Sabbath is a way to help dispel that myth and encourage more people to become donors.”
Celebrating Donor Sabbath is just one of the initiatives Nevada’s Organ and Tissue Donor Program has employed this year to promote organ donation throughout the state. In addition to a statewide awareness campaign this summer, the Program recently partnered with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to promote organ donation in DMV offices to encourage drivers to become donors when they renew or apply for a driver’s license. Posters encouraging organ and tissue donation can be viewed at DMV offices across the state and outside marquis signs can be found at main DMV locations in Carson City, Henderson, Las Vegas and Reno.
National Donor Sabbath is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
As the state’s only public medical school, the University of Nevada School of Medicine has been a leader in healthcare, medical education and research in Nevada since 1969. The School of Medicine includes 16 clinical departments including family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and five nationally recognized departments in basic science including microbiology and biomedical engineering. The more than 185 doctors of University Health System, the school’s clinical practice, offer care in more than 40 medical specialties and subspecialties with eight physician offices in the Reno/Sparks area and seven in Las Vegas. The school is committed to a best practices approach to medicine and is dedicated to exceptional healthcare for Nevada now and in the future. For more information visit www.medicine.nevada.edu.