Social networking site looks for organ donors

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 12 April 2010 - 5:22pm, by Johan van Slooten

(Photo by RNW)

The nine million users of Dutch social networking website Hyves are being asked whether or not they want to register as organ donors. Hyves - the Dutch version of Facebook - is cooperating with a new government campaign aimed at raising the number of donors.

Previous campaigns have not been very successful, and waiting lists for organ transplants remain long.

This is mainly due to the system used in the Netherlands, where organs can only be used for transplant if an individual has given clear consent before death.

Opt-out

This system is the opposite of the "opt-out" method used in other European countries, such as Belgium and Germany. In these countries, people must indicate they don't want their organs to be used after death.

While a separate campaign has been initiated to change the Dutch law on this, the Dutch Transplant Foundation (NTS) is now using Hyves in a fresh appeal for new donors.

Hyves friends

“We used to address the people in ordinary adverts or leaflets, but that was in a very formal way. Now they get the question whether they want to be a donor simply through their Hyves friends”, NTS spokesperson Janine van Trierum told Radio Netherlands Worldwide. “We think this makes it more likely that they are at least going to think about it”.

All of the nine million users of Hyves – more than half of the Dutch population – may see an advertising banner on their personal page with a simple yes or no question: Would you save the life of a friend? If you click “Yes” you will be automatically redirected to a special NTS website where you can officially sign up as a donor.

After clicking “No”, you will receive a couple of further questions and extra information on why more organ donors are necessary – all of this in a light hearted, attractive and interactive design.

It is also possible to add your donor status to your profile page to let other people know you’re a donor.

Simple question

“It’s a simple question with a simple answer, really”, says Ms Van Trierum. “A lot of people are already aware that they would like to be a donor, but they haven’t yet registered themselves. This campaign aims to help them realise that they have to register to make it official. It takes less than a minute”.

But isn’t this online campaign making it too easy to sign up as an organ donor – a decision that may have far reaching effects for the donor or for relatives after the donor’s death. “If you’re positive towards the idea of becoming a donor, making it easy to do so will only help. But signing up is not definitive. You can always change your mind and change your registration”, according to Ms Van Trierum.

"Besides, if you don't register, your relatives will have to face that decision after you've died at a very difficult moment. You have to wonder whether you would want that", adds Ms van Trierum.

Way forward

An interactive online campaign may be the way forward for the NTS, whose previous donor campaigns with printed adverts have not been very successful. The number of organ donors has remained steady since the mid-1990s.

“These days, it’s best to try several channels instead of just one”, Ms Van Trierum says. “Hyves is a new and very powerful channel to advertise on. We hope we can reach a wider audience with it”.

Acceptance

A broader acceptance of donorship will also help, Ms Van Trierum adds. “It’s much easier these days to talk about it than ten or twenty years ago. People used to get scared of the thought. That’s all changed and it makes it easier to convince more people to sign up – even if the methods are a little more unorthodox than they used to be”.