WHAT: Telephone news conference to propose solutions-from an expert panel assembled by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations-to the severe national shortage of organs available for transplantation.

WHY: More than 85,000 Americans are on the waiting list for life-saving transplants and more than 6000 people awaiting a transplant die each year. Diabetes and hypertension are growing epidemics-particularly among African Americans-which means these numbers will continue to climb. Yet, minorities wait considerably longer for organ transplants and have lower survival rates.

As the nation's leading evaluator of healthcare quality and patient safety, the joint commission is undertaking a major initiative to address the deep-rooted issues that currently limit the number of organs available for transplant. This includes strategies to create a culture in which organ donation is a priority; bring equity, fairness, and safety to the transplant system that now often gives short shrift to racial and ethnic minorities; and find alternatives to meet the demand for organ donation.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 15, 2004

1 p.m. Eastern/noon Central/10 a.m. Pacific

WHERE: Dial 1.800.351.4895; Conference ID: 54568

WHO: Dennis S. O'Leary, MD, president, Joint Commission

Elizabeth M. Duke, PhD, administrator, Health Resources and Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services

Clive O. Callender, MD, FACS, chairman, Department of Surgery, Howard University Hospital, and founder, Minority Organ and Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP)

Ronald M. Davis, MD, director, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Henry Ford Health System

Bessie and Gerald Bowen-Mrs Bowen is on the wait-list for an organ match for a kidney transplant.