STAND. COM. REP. NO. 618

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 145
                                        S.D. 2




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B.
No. 145, S.D. 1, entitled:

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ANATOMICAL GIFTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to encourage more organ
donations.

     The number of organs donated for transplant in Hawaii is
inadequate and must be increased in order to save lives.  This
bill promotes organ donation through education and asking dying
patients and their families to consider the option of donation.
A voluntary $1 fee asked of all drivers at the time of driver
license application or car registration will fund a special fund
to finance the educational efforts.

     Your Committee finds that organ and tissue transplantation,
which is no longer a medical experiment, can save lives and
improve the quality of life for many ill patients.  However, the
demand is much higher than the supply and many more donors are
needed annually.  In Hawaii, which has a high number of minority
groups, appreciation of organ donation is important because a
more successful organ match is possible when the donor and the
recipient are from the same ethnic group.  Yet, many individuals
do not feel comfortable making an organ donation for a variety of
reasons ranging from religious to simply being uninformed about

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 618
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their dying family member's preferences regarding organ and
tissue donation.  Therefore, every effort must be made to educate
the public about the option to donate and the family or public
discussion that is needed in this area of medicine in order for
this process to work.

     Public awareness can be raised through more public education
at ethnic, health, and community fairs, schools, and churches.
In hospitals, a trained requester can ask every dying person and
their family members to consider organ and tissue donation.  Only
by increasing the number of persons asked to donate can Hawaii
hope to increase the number of donors each year.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Using the phrase "procurement organization" instead of
          "organ procurement organization" to use a term
          consistent with the definitions in section 327-1,
          Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (2)  Eliminating the advisory committee, because a voluntary
          coalition of organ donation individuals and groups has
          been formed to address public education concerns;

     (3)  Changing the administration of the organ and tissue
          education special fund from the Office of the
          Lieutenant Governor to the Department of Health;

     (4)  Requiring the assignment of funds from the special fund
          to the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii for apportionment
          to the three major functions (minority organ tissue and
          transplant education program, Hawaii's federally
          designated organ procurement organization, and Hawaii's
          coalition of organ donation related agencies); and

     (5)  Establishing the special fund effective July 1, 1999,
          but having actual collection of the voluntary $1 fee
          begin from July 1, 2000 in order to allow the city and
          county of Honolulu's motor vehicle computer software
          program to be online.

These amendments are in accord with testimony and language
suggested by the Organ Donor Center of Hawaii and the National
Kidney Foundation of Hawaii.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your

 
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Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
145, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third
Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 145, S.D. 2.

                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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