NKF Applauds CareDx for New Living Donor Policy

 

 

 

New York, NY—June 5, 2018 —“Yesterday, CareDx announced a corporate policy offering paid leave for all employees donating organs or bone marrow. The National Kidney Foundation applauds CareDx for making a commitment to help increase living organ donation by removing some of the barriers that living donors face.”

 

“The new employee policy is corporate citizenship at its best and will offer full-time employees with up to 30 days paid annual leave for donating an organ and up to 7 days for bone marrow donation.  In addition, the policy will offer job protection and full benefits during leave.” 

 

“Living organ donors should not have to worry about their job security, loss of wages or benefits during the organ donation and recovery process. The National Kidney Foundation commends CareDx for their forward-thinking corporate policy and urges other corporations to adopt the same.” 

 

“Living organ donation not only saves lives, it saves money. Each day 12 people die waiting for a kidney.  And each year Medicare spends $87,000 per dialysis patient but less than half, $32,500, for a transplant patient.  It is only by removing barriers to organ donation that we will increase the frequency of this life-saving gift and help the nearly 100,000 Americans waiting for a kidney right now.”

 

THE BIG ASK: THE BIG GIVE platform, which provides nationwide outreach, is designed to increase kidney transplantation through training and tools that help patients and families find a living donor. It includes in-person training offered at transplant centers, direct patient and caregiver support through our toll-free help line 855.NKF.CARES (855.653.2273), peer mentoring from a fellow kidney patient or a living donor, online communities, an advocacy campaign to remove barriers to donation, and a multi-media public awareness campaign. All of these resources are free and designed to teach kidney patients, or their advocates, how to make a “big ask” to their friends, loved ones, or community to consider making a “big give,” a life-saving living organ donation.  For more information visit www.kidney.org/livingdonation.

 

In the United States 30 million adults are estimated to have chronic kidney disease—and most aren’t aware of it.  1 in 3 American adults are at risk for chronic kidney disease.  Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and family history.  People of African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease.  African Americans are 3 times more likely than Whites, and Hispanics are nearly 1.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to develop end stage renal disease (kidney failure).