Science/Tech

Will Apple's iOS 10 Health App Increase Organ Registrations?

By Michael Bobe | Update Date: Jul 06, 2016 07:05 PM EDT

The upcoming Apple iOS 10 will enable a user to become an organ donor with just a few clicks. The update for their health app will not only monitor users vitals but will also give users the option to decide how to use their organs if the death comes to them.

A sign-up button will appear on the health app, and with a few clicks, users will be able to donate their eyes, tissues, and organs, Apple and Donate Life America announced on Tuesday.

After the registration process, all of the information will be submitted to the National Donate Life Registry. There is no news regarding the encryption procedures, but the same protection technology will be integrated into the data, which will give assured security similar to sensitive medical information.

Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams said that the Health app in iOS 10 will also give "education and awareness about organ donation," and the registration process is within "a few seconds and could help save up to eight lives."  

"Younger Americans are not registering at the same rate as they have in the past," said David Fleming, chief executive of Donate Life America. With Apple's move for organ donation using the iPhone, the situation wherein a person dies while waiting for a transplant will be lessened. He noted that 22 people die each day because of waiting for a donor.

Apple Chief executive Tim Cook expected that the company could lessen the problem of donor shortage with this health app. The shortage struck Apple home as Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, experienced the same fate in 2009. "Watching and seeing him every day, waiting and not knowing - it stuck with me and left an impression that I'll never forget," Cook said.

Meanwhile, the U.S government wants to speed up the donor and matching service, while Facebook, Google, and Twitter also aims to achieve greater automation in the process, according to MacRumors. 

The iOS 10 is expected to be in its beta phase later this month, and it will be released to the public sometime this fall along with iPhone 7.

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