Apple’s new health app will allow iOS 10 users to register as organ donors

Twenty-two people in the U.S die each day waiting for an organ donation. Leaders at Apple hope to reduce that number—or at the least increase awareness—with an updated health app rolled out with iOS 10 this fall.

ABCNews.com reported this week:

Furthering the company's quest to make the iPhone a valuable tool when it comes to taking charge of one's health, users will be able to sign up with a few taps before their registrations are sent to the National Donate Life Registry. Apple's Medical ID can be accessed from a locked iPhone screen, allowing first responders to gain valuable information about a person in the event of an emergency, including contacts, blood type, medical conditions and allergies.

A press release from Apple and Donate Life America recounted Steve Jobs’ “excruciating” battle against pancreatic cancer.

A post on MedCityNews.com said:

This program is courtesy of a new partnership with Donate Life America, a nonprofit that manages a registry for organ donation, and reportedly is a tip of the hat to Steve Jobs..[The app] is essentially a digital answer to the organ donation stickers on state-issued driver’s licenses.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Associated Press that he was inspired by Jobs, who had a liver transplant in 2009. Jobs succumbed to pancreatic cancer two years later.

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David Fleming, president and CEO of Donate Life America, hailed the new partnership. MedCityNews reported that Fleming said:

“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. 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. This is a huge step forward that will ultimately help save lives.”

Folks on social media used #OrganDonor on Facebook and Twitter to spread the news:

A press release from Apple sums the program up nicely: “The ability to quickly and easily become a nationally-registered donor enables people to carry their decision with them wherever they go.”

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