Dive Brief:
- Apple is partnering with Donate Life America to encourage iPhone users to donate organs, eyes and tissue with the Health app in the new iOS 10 scheduled to be released this fall.
- Users will be able to click a new button with the app to register with Donate Like.
- Someone is added to the national transplant organ waiting list every 10 minutes and 22 people day waiting every day, according to the White House, which recently announced actions aimed at reducing the list with $200 million in funding.
Dive Insight:
“On average, one person dies every hour in the United States waiting for an organ transplant because the demand for lifesaving transplants far exceeds the available supply of organs — and one donor can save as many as eight lives,” Donate Life America President and CEO David Fleming said in a statement.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Associated Press he said the problem with the donor shortage hit home when co-founder Steve Jobs experienced an "excrutiating wait for a liver transplant during 2009." Jobs died of from pancreatic cancer complications in 2011.
“By working with Apple to bring the National Donate Life Registry to the Health app on iPhone, we're making it easier for people to find out about organ, eye and tissue donation and quickly register," he added. "This is a huge step forward that will ultimately help save lives.”
Each year, approximately 6,000 Americans decide to become a living organ donor, facilitating life-saving kidney and liver transplants, the White House stated. The federal efforts seek to close the gap between the 95% of Americans who support organ donation and the nearly 50% of Americans who are registered donors.