Sec. 53.001.  ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.  (a)  The department shall establish a bone marrow donor recruitment program to educate residents of this state about:
(1)  the need for bone marrow donors, including the particular need for donors from minority populations;
(2)  the requirements for registering with the federally authorized bone marrow donor registry established and maintained as required by 42 U.S.C. Section 274k as a potential bone marrow donor, including procedures for determining an individual's tissue type;
(3)  the medical procedures an individual must undergo to donate bone marrow or other sources of blood stem cells; and
(4)  the availability of information about bone marrow donation in health care facilities, blood banks, and driver's license offices.
(b)  The department, in consultation with the federally authorized bone marrow donor registry established and maintained as required by 42 U.S.C. Section 274k and the registry's interested contracted network partners, shall develop written and electronic informational materials, including links to Internet websites and machine-readable codes, regarding:
(1)  bone marrow donation; and
(2)  the process of registering with the federally authorized bone marrow donor registry. 
(c)  The federally authorized bone marrow donor registry, in collaboration with the registry's interested contracted network partners, may develop and provide the informational materials described by Subsection (b) to the department. 
(d)  The department and the Department of Public Safety shall post the information described by Subsection (b) on each agency's respective Internet websites. 
(e)  Appropriate health care facilities, blood banks, and driver's license offices may access the informational materials described by Subsection (b) on the Internet websites of the department and the Department of Public Safety and print the materials to place in their facilities, banks, or offices to provide to residents of this state.
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 14 (H.B. 780), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2021.