Facebook on Tuesday announced an initiative to inspire members of the social network to post their organ donor status, offering a new Health and Wellness section.
Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg talked about the new feature in an interview with the Good Morning America television show, noting that the idea for the new set of tools arose when people in disaster areas used Facebook to communicate.
"Just recently when tornados came through Missouri a lot of people were using Facebook to organise and return items that were lost," Zuckerberg told Robin Roberts on Good Morning America, in a pretaped segment.
Zuckerberg also mentioned that in the wake of the tragic Japanese earthquake in March 2011, Facebook was used to help people find family members.
"So we figured, OK, can we help people do anything that would solve other types of issues, like all of the people who need organ donations," Zuckerberg said.
The Facebook initiative calls for members to announce as well as update their organ donation status. The donor status will show up along with other data in a Health and Wellness section, which can also include other heath information.
This feature will also offer links to state online donor registries, where people can change their donor status.
Asked whether his friendship with Steve Jobs, who had received a kidney transplant and died last year of pancreatic cancer, had figured into his thinking, Zuckerberg said the Apple founder had been in mind.
"He was a friend and as we were thinking through this I definitely think it was something we all had in mind," Zuckerberg said.
More than 100,000 people in the US are on lists waiting for organ transplants, and 18 people in the country die every day because they have not received organs in time, according to the ABC report.
"Even if this doesn’t touch everyone I hope it can make an impact," Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg said his girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, who is training to be a pediatrician, encouraged the initiative.
Facebook is offering the new feature in the US and UK, and has plans to roll it out to other countries.
IDG News Service
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers