[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 66 (Monday, April 6, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 19365-19366]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07305]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 66 / Monday, April 6, 2020 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 19365]]


                Proclamation 10003 of March 31, 2020

                
National Donate Life Month, 2020

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                During National Donate Life Month, we honor the 
                selfless individuals whose remarkable generosity has 
                helped give others the gift of life. Countless 
                Americans have benefited from people who have 
                registered as organ, eye, or tissue donors, and we 
                recognize our Nation's unrivaled medical community for 
                helping make donor transplants possible. Through the 
                talents of doctors all across our country and the gifts 
                of donors, the quality of life for thousands of 
                Americans has been improved.

                Approximately 60 percent of American adults have 
                registered as organ, eye, and tissue donors. In 2019, 
                almost 40,000 American patients received transplants, 
                which resulted in the most lives saved through organ 
                donations ever during a single year. We all have the 
                power to help: One donor can save up to 8 lives through 
                organ donation and help improve more than 75 other 
                lives through eye and tissue donation.

                Today, more than 110,000 men, women, and children in 
                the United States are awaiting lifesaving organ 
                transplants. While tremendous progress has been made, 
                the need for additional organ donors is vital. Every 9 
                minutes another name is added to the long list of 
                Americans desperately waiting for transplants. 
                Additionally, nearly 18,000 people in the United States 
                have been diagnosed with illnesses for which blood stem 
                cell transplantation is the best treatment option. Over 
                65 percent of these individuals do not have 
                appropriately matched family members and rely upon 
                blood stem cell donors from outside their family to 
                help save their lives. We are grateful for the more 
                than 30 million adults who are currently registered as 
                marrow donors. But more are needed to ensure all who 
                need a transplant can find a match.

                To help increase access to transplants, in July 2019, I 
                signed an Executive Order on Advancing American Kidney 
                Health. The Executive Order increases access to kidney 
                transplants by modernizing the organ recovery and 
                transplantation systems and updating and fixing 
                outdated and counterproductive regulations. It also 
                provides increased support for living donors, 
                increasing the supply of transplantable kidneys by 
                removing financial barriers to living donations.

                Every person is a potential organ or tissue donor with 
                the power to give the gift of life. This month, we are 
                grateful to the generous Americans who register as 
                donors and to the researchers, scientists, and medical 
                professionals who ensure transplants are safe and 
                successful. I strongly encourage all willing and able 
                Americans to sign up as organ or tissue donors to help 
                instill greater hope in those awaiting a donor match 
                and improve and save the lives of their fellow 
                citizens.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim April 2020 as 
                National Donate Life Month. I call upon health 
                professionals, volunteers, educators, government 
                agencies, faith-based and community groups, and private 
                organizations to help raise awareness of the urgent 
                need for organ and tissue donors throughout our Nation.

[[Page 19366]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and forty-fourth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2020-07305
Filed 4-3-20; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F0-P