Organ Donation

NHSBT and Facebook use the power of sharing to boost organ donation

A new collaboration to help boost the number of people on the Organ Donor Register was announced today by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and Facebook.

Facebook's new Timeline enables people to post key life events and milestones to their profile. From today, by clicking a new health and wellbeing button, this can include their intention to become an organ donor - with the added benefit of sharing that information with friends and family.

NHSBT already uses social media to engage with wide audiences and people can register to be an organ donor on NHSBT's Facebook page. The new initiative means people can log their support for organ donation on their Facebook Timeline and, if they wish, click through to NHSBT's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/organdonationuk to officially register.

People who use Facebook will not have officially registered their wishes unless they sign-up to the ODR. But even if they don't actually register, they will still be sharing their views with friends and family which is a crucial part of organ donation. Over 30 million people in the UK use Facebook.

NHSBT's Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation, Sally Johnson, said:

"We need more people to sign up to the register and share their wishes with their friends and family, our job is to make that as quick and easy as possible. This is an exciting new way to use the power of social media to reach a huge audience and encourage people to think about it, act, and share that information."

Evidence shows only 50% of those who wish to donate organs after death let their families know. Relatives who know about wishes to donate are 50% more likely to agree to donation. Each time consent is given for organ donation, this can save or improve the lives of up to nine people.

Currently around 10,000 people need a transplant in the UK and three people die every day waiting.

Facebook's UK Director of Policy, Simon Milner, said:

"Small acts of kindness happen every day on Facebook but we hope that our partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant will use the power of friendship to save lives. More than 30 million people in the UK will be able to show on their Timeline that they are either on the organ donation register already, or can register with the NHS on their Facebook page in a few simple steps. We hope that as a result of this partnership, UK Facebook users will together be able to reduce the number of people who needlessly die waiting for an organ each year."

Today's announcement coincides with the launch of a similar venture in the United States of America.

A Step-by-step guide to adding the life event to your Facebook Timeline

Go to Facebook.

Ends

• For additional information please contact Pauline O'Brien at the NHSBT press office on 01923 367669 or 0117 969 2444 or email pressoffice@nhsbt.nhs.uk. For out-of-hours enquiries please call 07659 133583.
• For information about Facebook or the new Timeline feature, please call Richard Appleton or Sally Aldous at Blue Rubicon on 0207 260 2700 or email facebook@bluerubicon.com

Notes to editors

• NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is a joint England and Wales Special Health Authority. Its remit includes the provision of a reliable, efficient supply of blood and associated services to the NHS in England and North Wales. It is also the organ donor organisation for the UK and is responsible for matching and allocating donated organs.
• NHSBT have had a Facebook page on organ donation for over two years. To date, it has had over 68,000 likes. Our Twitter page has been in existence for over two years and has 4,800 followers.
• The NHS Organ Donor Register records the details of people who have registered their wishes to donate organs and/or tissue after their death for transplantation. After someone has died, this information is checked by authorised medical staff to establish whether a person wanted to donate
• Anyone can register on the NHS Organ Donor Register. Age is not a barrier to being an organ or tissue donor and neither are most medical conditions. People in their 70s and 80s have become organ donors and saved many lives. The oldest recorded cornea donor was 102 years old
• One donor can save or transform up to nine lives and many more can be helped through the donation of tissues
• Between April 2010 - March 2011, more than 7,300 organ and cornea transplants were carried out in the UK, thanks to the generosity of deceased and living donors - the highest on record.
• To use the new feature, people on Facebook need to add a "Life Event" to their Timeline and select "Health and Wellness". They can then to share a story about deciding to register as a donor with friends and add a milestone to their Timeline that states they are registered as an organ donor.
• A person can choose to share the fact that they are an organ donor with as small or as large a group of people as they choose, from close friends to everyone.
• The feature contains a direct link enabling the person to click through to the NHSBT Facebook page, where they can sign the Organ Donation Register if they have not done so already.