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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Nonsmokers should be protected front secondhand smoke
By STUART BROWN, M.D.
Director Division of Public Health
A recent report released by the U.S.
Surgeon General confirms what we’ve long
known - secondhand smoke is deadly, and
smoke free environments are the only way
to effectively protect nonsmokers from the
dangers of secondhand smoke.
As the report notes, “smoke free environ
ments are proven, simple approaches that
prevent exposure and harm caused by sec
ondhand smoke.”
The good news for nonsmokers in Georgia
is that our state has already taken steps to
protect your health.
Last year, the state legislature passed the
Life Shapers share opgans and make a major difference
By DAVID J. UNDIS
Executive Director Life Sharers
A story in the Houston Daily Journal about Amanda
Dryden - “A reason to fight” on July 5 - highlighted the
tragic shortage of human organs for transplant operations.
Over half of the 92,000 Americans on the national trans
plant waiting list will die before they get a transplant.
Most of these deaths are needless.
Americans bury or cremate about 20,000 transplantable
organs every year. Over 6,000 of our neighbors suffer and
die needlessly every year as a result.
National Minority Donor Awareness Day arriving next month
Special to the HDJ
National Minority Donor
Awareness Day (NMDAD)
promotes education, health
ier living, and disease pre
vention for minorities.
NMDAD observed annu
ally on Aug. 1, raises aware
ness about organ and tissue
donation while promoting
healthy living and disease
prevention. It also increases
awareness of disease which
Houston Healthcare’s Annual Family Fair coming soon
Join Houston Healthcare
for Family Fair 2006 on
Saturday, August sth from
10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the
Galleria Mall in Centerville.
More than 50 exhibit booths
will be on display offering
health screenings, informa
tion, freebies and tips on
keeping families healthy.
“Family Fair is truly an
event for the entire fam
ily. Our goal is to promote
health and wellness infor
mation, along with other
tips and ideas on successful
parenting and maintaining
a healthy family to families
and individuals while they
are in the mall for back
to-school shopping,” says
Mary Jane Kinnas, director
of marketing for Houston
Healthcare. “We want this to
be an educational event but
also a fun time for children.
Highlighting this year’s
event, along with clowns and
face painters, will be Court
TV’s Digital Fingerprinting
for children sponsored by
Cox Media from 11 a.m.
until 2 p.m.”
In addition to helping
host the Family Fair, Middle
Georgia Technical College’s
Adult Literacy Program will
host their second annual
“Read for Your Life” 5K
Relay/One Mile Fun Run
on Saturday, August 5. The
event will raise funds for
scholarships to help the
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Up ** :
Renvind your
neighbors to
help pre
serve our
planet's
natural
resources.
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Recyclix* g
sot future
RECYCL^
Georgia Smokefree Air Act.
The law prohibits smoking in most public
places, including 3tate buildings, restau
rants/bars serving or employing persons
under age 18, places of employment, audito
riums, classrooms and medical facilities. We
applaud areas that have gone even further
than is required by law.
For example, the city of Douglas passed
a citywide smoking ban inside public busi
nesses, including restaurants.
Clean air initiatives in that county have
recently received national attention for their
progressive tobacco cessation policies.
All public places are required to comply
with the law.
are disproportionately prev
alent in minority communi
ties including hypertension,
diabetes, and kidney disease,
which may all lead to organ
failure and the need for life
saving organ transplants.
Life Link of Georgia, the
non-profit organ and tis
sue procurement organiza
tion works to coordinate
the recovery of high-quality
organs and tissue for trans
Ji 7 M/l/
program’s GED graduates
continue their educations at
Middle Georgia Technical
College. “We believe adult
literacy is a worthy effort
that enriches our commu
nity,” says Emily Taylor,
Health Literacy Coordinator
for Middle Georgia Technical
College. “Our event last
year created Book Money
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There is a simple solution to the organ shortage ~ give
organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own
organs when they die. Giving organs first to organ donors
will convince more people to register as organ donors.
It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. About
60 percent of the organs transplanted in the United States
go to people who haven’t agreed to donate their own organs
when they die. People who aren’t willing to share the gift of
life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there
is a shortage of organs.
Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others
plantation therapy.
“We encourage everyone
to seek information about
organ and tissue donation,”
said Kathy Lilly, senior vice
president/executive director
of Life Link or Georgia, “and
talk with their family mem
bers about their decision to
donate.”
“While organ and tissue
donation is important for all
Georgians, it is especially
Scholarships for 10 of our
2006 GED graduates.”
Registration for the 5K
Relay/Fun Run will start
at 8:30 a.m. at the Watson
Boulevard entrance to the
Galleria Mall. Trophies will
be awarded for the quickest
running times by age and
gender categories, for the
highest individual fundrais-
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LOCAL
This report reinforces that all public plac
es, even those exempted by the law, should
consider the health of their employees and
patrons and adopt a smoke free work policy.
For more information about the Smoke
Free Air Act, to file a complaint, or to find
out how to make your workplaces smoke
free, visit our website: www.livehealthygeor
gia.org and click on GA Smokefree Air or
call our toll free number -1-877-343-3340,
or in the Metro Atlanta area 404-657-3378.
Smokers can also help protect the health
of their loved ones, neighbors and friends by
quitting smoking.
If you are ready to kick the habit, call the
toll-free Georgia Tobacco Quit Line at 1-
important for our multicul
tural populations as they
make up the majority of
those awaiting kidney trans
plants in Georgia,” said Lilly
in a press release.
There are over 92,000
people in the United States
waiting for life-saving organ
transplants. In Georgia,
more than 1,800 are listed
for organ transplants; 56 per
cent waiting are minorities;
er, and for the highest team
fundraiser. Taylor suggests
a minimum donation of $lO
per person, but encourages
everyone to help spread the
word about literacy by fund
raising throughout the com
r\
Full Service Driver's License
and Testing Center
Tuesday - Saturday
9am - spm
• License Renewals
• Reinstatements
• Testing - Automobile &
Motorcycle (Reservations Suggested)
• Get copies of driving history
00035849
Contact Our Call Center
For More Information
]-866-7 54-3687
www.dds.ga.gov §t
450 Larry Walker Pkwy. • Perry, GA
877-270-STOP; Spanish speakers call 1-877-
2NO-FUME/TTY; and TTY: 1-877-777-6534
for the hearing-impaired.
The Quit Line provides free counseling,
support and referral services, as well as a
resource library for Georgia tobacco users
ages 13 and older.
If you are not ready to quit, consider
lighting up away from others so they won’t
inhale harmful tobacco fumes.
Together we can reduce Georgians’ expo
sure to secondhand smoke and save lives. *
Visit www.livehealthygeorgia.org to learn
more about the Georgia Smokefree Air Act
and the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line.
who have agreed to donate theirs can join Life Sharers.
Life Sharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who
agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when
they die.
They do this through a form of directed donation that
is legal in all 50 states and under federal law. Anyone can
join for free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-
ORGANBB. Life Sharers has 5,147 members, including 80
members in Georgia.
Over 500 of our members are minor children enrolled by
their parents.
and nearly two-thirds are
listed for kidney transplants
are African American.
Life Link of Georgia, the
agency which coordinates
organ and tissue donations
in Georgia, has speakers
available for civic and com
munity groups, churches,
schools, corporations, etc.
Speakers are trained to pro
vide information and dispel
myths about organ and tis
munity.
Followingthe run, MGTC’s
Adult Literacy Program
will be available during the
Family Fair for anyone need
ing information about the
program. For more infor
Georgia Department
Of Driver Services
SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2006
sue donation and transplan
tation. Presentations are
free to the public and tai
lored to the specifi c, audi
ence.
To learn more about the
Speaker’s Bureau, organ
and tissue donation, or how
to become a volunteer, con
tact Terri Medina at (770)
225-5465 or (800) 544-6667
or visit the Web site at www.
lifelinkfound.org.
mation about the “Read for
Your Life” 5K Relay, call
929-6796.
For more information
about this year’s Family Fair,
call Houston Health Source
at 923-9771.
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