Presidential Document2024-07190
National Donate Life Month, 2024
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 3, 2024
Signed
March 29, 2024
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 65 (Wednesday, April 3, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 3, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 22889-22890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07190]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89 , No. 65 / Wednesday, April 3, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 22889]]
Proclamation 10719 of March 29, 2024
National Donate Life Month, 2024
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
I often say that we are a good Nation because we are a
good people, and during National Donate Life Month, we
are reminded of why that is true as we celebrate all
the selfless organ donors across our country, who have
saved countless lives. We honor the families and
friends of donors who have supported their loved ones,
and we recognize the professionals devoted to the
transplant community. We call upon more Americans to
register as organ, eye, tissue, or bone marrow donors
and share the gift of life with those in need.
Across the country, organ transplants are being
performed at a record pace because of the incredible
generosity and courage of organ donors. America's
doctors have performed over one million organ
transplants to date. Each year, thousands of profoundly
compassionate Americans choose to donate their organs,
saving the lives of loved ones and people they have
never even met.
Despite this progress, there is still so much more to
do until every person who needs an organ receives one.
More than 100,000 people, including nearly 2,000
children, are currently on the waiting list for an
organ transplant--the majority of whom are people of
color. With a shortage of organ donors and a high
demand for them, 17 Americans die each day while
waiting for a transplant.
We can each change that. After someone passes away,
their organ donation can save up to 8 people and can
improve 75 more lives through eye and tissue donation.
What an extraordinary legacy to leave: giving people in
need a second chance at life and giving families
futures with their loved ones.
My Administration is working to improve the organ
donation process and ensure living donors and
recipients have access to quality, affordable health
care. For the first time in nearly 40 years, we are
breaking up the monopoly that has controlled the organ
transplant system. A bipartisan law I signed, the
Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation
Network Act, will transform the organ transplant
network by increasing competition in the contracts
process. This law allows us to implement an independent
board of directors that can strengthen accountability
and oversight. In addition, we established the Organ
Procurement and Transplantation Network Modernization
Initiative, which will bring more transparency to the
system and spearhead needed reforms. These actions are
critical first steps toward cutting down the wait list
for organs.
We have also taken action to extend Medicare coverage
of vital drugs for kidney transplant patients and are
working to ensure high-quality care for transplants.
This year, through my Inflation Reduction Act, out-of-
pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare will be
capped at $3,500 a year--even for medications that cost
some organ recipients many times that.
In addition, I worked with the Congress to secure $2.5
billion in bipartisan funding for the Advanced Research
Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The scientists,
innovators, and public health professionals receiving
[[Page 22890]]
ARPA-H funding are working day and night to
revolutionize the prevention, detection, and treatment
of cancer and other deadly diseases. In time, these
breakthroughs could one day reduce the need for organ
transplants or eliminate the need for anti-rejection
medication. For example, to make it easier and faster
for patients to get a transplant, ARPA-H has already
invested $26 million into addressing organ transplant
shortages through on-demand 3D tissue printing,
beginning with a human heart.
Millions of Americans have embraced the American spirit
of helping those in need by signing up to be organ
donors. Any adult can register, regardless of age or
medical history. In many States you can sign up by
simply checking a box when you renew your driver's
license. I encourage all Americans to learn more about
organ, eye, and tissue donation by visiting
<a href="http://organdonor.gov">organdonor.gov</a> or <a href="http://bloodstemcell.hrsa.gov">bloodstemcell.hrsa.gov</a> for more
information on donating bone marrow. This National
Donate Life Month, let us redouble our efforts to save
and improve more lives by lending a hand to our fellow
Americans in need of life-saving organ transplants.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by the authority vested
in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim April 2024 as National
Donate Life Month. I call on every person who can to
share the gift of life and hope by becoming an organ,
eye, tissue, or bone marrow donor. I also call on this
Nation to observe National Pediatric Transplant Week
from April 21 through April 27, a week dedicated to
ending the pediatric transplant waiting list.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
eighth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2024-07190
Filed 4-2-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 3, 2024.
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