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Five Points of Life Bike Ride Spotlights Donor Shortage
WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 13, 2000 — A team of cyclists riding from Maine to
Florida on a 59-stop tour will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Sept.
18, to draw attention to the severe shortage of lifesaving donations in the
United States, including blood, apheresis, marrow and blood stem cells,
umbilical cord blood, and organs and tissue — known as the Five Points of
Life.
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Advances in medical technology and an aging population have dramatically
increased the need for donations
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Advances in medical technology and an aging population have dramatically
increased the need for these donations, though Americans' willingness to
give remains low. In fact, less than five percent of the population gives
blood each year, though 60 percent is eligible to do so. The urgent need for
donations is underscored by these facts:
- Every three seconds someone in the United States needs a blood transfusion.
- 12 people die each day while waiting for organ transplants.
- 30,000 people are diagnosed annually with life-threatening diseases for
which a marrow or blood stem cell transplant could be their only cure.
Among those expected to be on the scene:
- Paul Ness, President, American Association of Blood Banks
- Representative from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services
- Jeffrey Chell, M.D., CEO, National Marrow Donor Program
- Cyclists Peter Fort, Columbia, Md., an avid donor; Janelle
London, San Francisco, who received two kidney transplants;
and Nancy Davis, Anchorage, Alaska, whose 5-year-old son died
waiting for a heart-lung transplant.
- Marrow donor from Springfield, Va. and marrow recipient from
Melbourne, Fla.
The event will take place outside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Ave., Washington, D.C. (at 2nd Street, S.W., between Washington and
C Streets).
It begins at 10:30 a.m., Monday, Sept. 18, 2000.
Source: 5 Points of Life
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This site was last updated on Sept. 16, 2000
Copyright © 2000 Jennifer M. Gangloff.
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