Political Quotes

“in Asian-Pacific American communities throughout the nation, parents are known to overrule decisions of their children, even if their children are grown adults with families of their own. That cultural norm compounded with cultural and religious stigma surrounding tissue or organ donations and the complexities of Eastern versus Western values and medicine makes it difficult for families to accept the decisions of individual family members who wish to be donors. Even with a living will provided by a donor, the final decision of whether to make a donation is made by the surviving family. Thus, the need for such public awareness and outreach activities is a vital component of raising the potential matching success for those thousands of patients waiting for transplants and encouraging the recruitment of new donors. At any given day of the year, there are between 1,000 and 2,000 patients awaiting organ or tissue transplants throughout the nation. Of the 30,000 individuals that are diagnosed with leukemia each year, 6 percent of these are of Asian-Pacific American ancestry. The slim probabilities of finding a perfect match for many of these patients are often bleak. Just 10 years ago, the possibility of finding a match in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) was virtually nonexistent with only 123 Asian Pacific American donors listed on the National Registry.”