National Donate Life Month is geared toward encouraging New York residents to register as organ donors in the event of their deaths. The national average of registered donors is 44 percent; meanwhile, New York’s average hovers at 20 percent. The program seeks to reach out to people in order to highlight the importance of organ donation, make statistics publicly available, and raise awareness of the shortage that can directly impact whether a person in need of a transplant lives or dies.
In addition to achieving these goals, Dr. Teperman hopes to dispel common objections to organ donation, pointing out that most major religions promote the giving of life and accept organ donation. He also wishes to raise awareness that, with modern technologies, organs are rarely rejected and can usually be furnished to a patient’s body with limited rejection risk.