AAKP SEEKS CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR THE "ORGAN DONATION AND RECOVERY IMPROVEMENT ACT"

TAMPA, Fla. - The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) is asking congressional leaders to include an initial $5 million appropriation for the "Organ Donation and Recovery Improvement Act of 2004" in the fiscal year 2007 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill. AAKP has singed a letter to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services Chairman Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Ranking Member Tom Harkin (D-IA) asking for the appropriation. AAKP joins twelve other healthcare leaders as part of the Transplant Roundtable, a working coalition of transplant patients, professionals and research foundations, in seeking this critical funding.

"As we said to Chairman Specter and Ranking Member Harkin, the need for funding is more critical than ever before," said AAKP Executive Director and CEO Kris Robinson. "The Division of Transplantation has received cuts in funding over the past three fiscal years. This $5 million appropriation is important to patients, because we need to expand current donation efforts and create new, effective organ donation programs." The $5 million in funding would include the following:

• $2 million in new federal funds for the reimbursement of travel and subsistence expenses for living donors-healthy donors who give one kidney or a portion of their liver-who would otherwise be unable to donate.
• $1 million in new funding for grants and demonstration projects to more effectively promote organ donation.
• $1 million to provide grants to hospital based "organ coordinators" that can increase the rate of successful organ donations and transplants.
• $1 million for studies by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) into existing and new methods for organ recovery, preservation and transportation.

AAKP is the voluntary, patient organization, which for more than 35 years, has been dedicated to improving the lives of fellow kidney patients and their families by helping them deal with the physical, emotional and social impact of kidney disease. The programs offered by AAKP inform and inspire patients and their families to better understand their condition, adjust more readily to their circumstances, and assume more normal, productive lives in their communities.