Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is using his fortune and powers for good. He announced today that the social media giant will focus its efforts to help patients in need of organs with the new donor program.
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In an interview with ABC News, Zuckerberg said it was a conversation over dinner with his med-student girlfriend that formulated his latest big idea: using the power of Facebook to help eliminate the critical shortage of organs for patients desperately in need of life-saving transplants.
Zuckerberg told ABC:
“Facebook is really about communicating and telling stories… We think that people can really help spread awareness of organ donation and that they want to participate in this to their friends. And that can be a big part of helping solve the crisis that’s out there.”
Starting today, users in the United States and U.K. will be able to add that they’re organ donors to their Timelines, and if they’re not organ donors, they can find links to official organ donation registries and instantly enroll.
Zuckerberg continued:
“We want to make it simple. You just put in the state or country that you’re from, so that we can help link you to the official registries.”
In the “health and wellness” section of users’ timelines, users can list their status as organ donors and explain the decision to their friends, in an effort to raise awareness about the need for donors.
More than 112,000 Americans are awaiting organs, and 18 people die every day from the lack of available organs, according to Donate Life America, a nonprofit alliance that is partnering with Facebook.
