1998 32c Organ & Tissue Donation

US #3227
1998 Organ & Tissue Donation

• Issued to raise awareness of the need for organ and tissue donations

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Value:  32¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue:  August 5, 1998
First Day City:  Columbus, Ohio
Quantity Issued:  50,000,000
Printed by:  Avery Dennison
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Pane of 20
Perforations:  Die Cut 11.7

Why the stamp was issued:  After years of lobbying by organ recipients and other concerned individuals, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp promoting organ and tissue donation.

About the stamp design:  Art director Richard Sheaff had the difficult task of finding an image that reflected the cause of organ donation.  After many attempts at different concepts, Sheaff found what he was looking for in an edition of Computer Artist magazine.  Artist Andy Levine created the abstract painting of two interlocked people for his wife.   

First Day City:  The stamp was dedicated at the 1998 National Transplant Games in Columbus, Ohio.

History the stamp represents: Because of the generosity of strangers, thousands of people have been given a second chance at life through the organ and tissue donation program.  Over 100,000 Americans are waiting to receive an organ.  Of that number, 13 die every day while waiting.
When organs are donated, a complex process begins.  The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a non-profit organization that maintains a national transplant list, works closely with transplant centers.  They match the donated organ with a potential recipient according to blood type, tissue type, size of the organ, medical urgency, and the distance between donor and recipient.  It is possible to transplant two kidneys, two lungs, one heart, one liver, one pancreas, and an intestine from a donor.  The heart and lungs can be preserved for four to six hours; the liver and pancreas for 12 to 24 hours; and the kidneys for 48 to 72 hours.
The chances of surviving with a donated organ have increased since 1968, when Dr. Denton A. Cooley performed the first heart transplant in the United States.  Dr. Cooley’s 47-year-old patient lived 204 days.  His procedure took place one year after the world’s first heart transplant was performed in South Africa by Dr. Christiaan Barnard.  That patient died 18 days later.