Published October, 2024
Comments on Proposed Changes to the National Organ Transplant Act as amended by the HOPE Act, CHLP (2024)
On October 15, 2024, CHLP provided analysis and suggestions to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding proposed changes to the National Organ Transplant Act, as amended by the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act.
HHS proposed removing clinical research and institutional review board (IRB) requirements for liver and kidney transplantations for PLHIV. CHLP supports removing those requirements to increase the organ supply for transplants for PLHIV, but provided additional information on the need for HHS to implement programming and technical assistance to state, local, and tribal health departments to develop policies to firewall all health data from being used in criminal, civil, and immigration proceedings.
Additionally, CHLP recommended that HHS organize PLHIV, HIV advocacy organizations, and federal, state, and local health stakeholders to assess strategies to end HIV criminalization, since criminal offenses punishing PLHIV who donate organs directly undermine efforts to expand access to transplantation.
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