An Organ Donor Initiative Worth “Liking”

At Global Medical Services, we know it is not always easy to spread awareness of life-saving initiatives. Often, there can be roadblocks such as legislation, legal issues, lack of research, and even a lack of individuals out to make a positive change.

Fortunately, over the last few years we have seen a dramatic change in the way health care has been discussed around the globe. With the rise of social media, it has become much easier to hatch a small idea and watch it take flight.

At this point, we now know social media is a very powerful tool. Wielded right, it can bring in huge rewards for organization and people alike.

Go ahead, promote something new and exciting. You may wake up the next day and see it being talked about by millions of people! Social networks give us endless potential.

As an organization, it allows us to communicate with those within our industry and together we can promote creative health initiatives. But unfortunately, we are still bound by the size and distribution of our networks.

Well, what about the platforms themselves, can Facebook and Twitter use their own networks as tools to promote something new and exciting? It sure looks that way.

Last week Facebook announced an organ donor program with hopes that many of their users will jump aboard and register themselves as organ donors.

*Only available in the United States and the UK at the moment

Users now have the option to add an “Organ Donor Status” to their timeline with the option of including a picture, video or a personal story.

Facebook will let people share their wish to be organ donors, just as they already share their birthdays, new jobs or what they had for lunch.

Why has Facebook implemented this feature? Currently, many patients die in hospitals around the world waiting for an organ transplant. It comes down to a supply and demand problem.

In a recent survey, the majority of Americans say they support organ donation, but only 40 percent of the adult population are registered. There is obviously a huge gap, and Facebook wishes to close it and eliminate the transplant waiting list.

We can’t be sure what kind of impact the organ donor feature will have, but we can say it has already opened the eyes of many on the importance of being an organ donor and can only hope Facebook soon adds this option to all worldwide sites.