Donate Life and Autism Month

Welcome to April 2018

As usual there are several month long observances of health care topics that are highlighted in April. Two that I will highlight are: Autism and Donate Life.

Also there are a couple of week-long topics that I will highlight: National Infant Immunization Week, World Immunization Week and Every Kid Healthy Week.

Donate Life

This month we are reminded of the importance of choosing to be an organ, tissue or eye donor. There are 115,000 people (men, women and children) who are waiting for organ transplants.

Every 10 minutes another person is added to the “wait” list. Twenty-two people die each day because they do not receive an organ in time. A great need is for a kidney. About 82% of people waiting are waiting for a kidney. The wait time is 3-5 years from a deceased donor. 1 out of every 3 donor is over 50 years old.

The good news? There have been approximately 683,000 transplants in the U.S. since 1988.

How to register as a donor??

Go to https://www.donatelife.net/register/

Go to https://www.donatelife.net/ndlm/ to learn more.

“Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud”----Maya Angelou

Autism Month

Autism or also known as autism spectrum disorder is a range of conditions that are characterized by social skill challenges, repetitive behavior plus speech & nonverbal communication challenges.

Experts in the field estimate that 1 in 68 children in America are affected with autism.

www.autismSpeaks.com is a good website to visit. Autism Speaks is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. They help organize a very large world wide fund raising event called the Autism Speaks Walk. Go to their website to find a walk in your area.