New York, NY - January 8, 2008: The New York Organ Donor Network, the nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organization that serves 13 million people in the greater New York metropolitan area, has issued the following eight facts about organ and tissue donation for the new year, 2008:

• In 08, consider this: Just one organ donor can save up to 8 lives. Solid organs are hearts, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, livers and intestines.



• One tissue donor can save or improve up to 50 lives a through eye, bone and skin transplants.



• Transplantation is no longer experimental. Success rates for organ transplants average 80 - 90 percent, and more than 90 percent for various types of tissue transplants.



• Approximately 100,000 people need organ transplants in the United States, but because of the shortage of organs, more than 6,000 of them will die in 2008.



• Strict legal guidelines mean that doctors who treat patients in emergency situations are in no way involved with those responsible for organ removal. Donation is considered only after every effort has been made to save the patient’s life.



• Ignore the myth that your religion opposes donation: All major religions approve of donation as being the highest form of charity.



• And don’t believe another myth: You’re never too old to be a donor! There have been 92-year- olds who donated their livers.



• The best way to become a donor is to enroll in the New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry, a confidential database administered by the New York State Department of Health. When you enroll, inform your family about your decision.

For more information, send an e-mail to communications@nyodn.org.

MEDIA: For more information, contact Martin Woolf at 646-291-4460 or mwoolf@nyodn.org.