Facebook Now Administering Organ Donor Status for its Members

Hayley Tsukayama
Washington Post
May 2, 2012

Facebook has added a unique feature to its social network: you can now tell the world — or just your family members — that you’re an organ donor.

The company announced the initiative on Tuesday, encouraging its 900 million users to let others know if they are organ donors.

… In that interview, Zuckerberg said that his relationship with Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs inspired him to use the social network for spreading awareness. Jobs underwent a liver transplant while being treated for pancreatic cancer. Zuckerberg’s girlfriend, who is in medical school to be a pediatrician, also encouraged him to add the tool.

In its FAQ section about the project, Facebook said: “More than 114,000 people in the United States, and millions more around the globe, are waiting for the heart, kidney or liver transplant that will save their lives. Many of those people – an average of 18 people per day – will die waiting, because there simply aren’t enough organ donors to meet the need. Medical experts believe that broader awareness about organ donation could go a long way toward solving this crisis.”

Read full report here

This article was posted: Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 11:59 am

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