After seeing dying patients in desperate need of organ transplantation, a group of tech-savvy and compassionate medical students from Stellenbosch University are using the power of algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), in a projectset to be a game-changer on how young people view organ donation.
The Save 7 initiative not only wants over 1-million South Africans to sign up as organ donors by the end of August, it also aims to simplify the complex administrative processes involved in transplant referrals, and patient support groups, which are often less understood by young people and the public.
“As you dive deeper into the organ donation ecosystem in South Africa, you discover that there are many gaps for potential donors to fall through, such as inefficient referral systems, lack of centralised databases and poor patient support, to name a few,” says third-year medical student Jonty Wright.
The Save 7 initiative aims to share the message that every South African has the potential to save seven lives by donating their organs such as kidneys, heart and lungs after they die.
Wright, 20, who founded the NGO, which is endorsed by the Organ Donor Foundation (ODF) and the South African Transplantation Society (SATS), among others, has also created an easy-to-use referral portal for doctors to refer potential donors to transplant units.
“The point is to make this referral as easy as possible for healthcare professionals. It’s truly a tragedy when willing donors with healthy organs are missed because the current referral process is inconvenient for doctors.”
Save7.org allows users to register as organ donors in less than a minute and to create a legally recognisable testament of their commitment to donate their organs. It’s hoped this will help families who often struggle to give consent for their loved ones’ organs to be donated.
Wright founded the NGO after meeting patients in hospital who were desperately awaiting organs. “There was nothing more doctors could do for them, and they were literally waiting to die. Something felt deeply wrong with that, and I knew we had to do something,” he said.
He turned to technology and taught himself to programme an AI chatbot to answer questions about organ donation in SA. “Think of it like ChatGPT, except it’s an expert in the field of organ donation.”
His graphic designer parents helped bring the Save7 brand to life with bold designs and conversational style that appeals to a young, digital-savvy audience. “Awareness about organ donation is especially low among the younger generation,” explained Wright. “We needed to make this difficult topic easier for the public to engage with, so we focused our narrative more on ‘multiplying life’ in the present, rather than thinking about death in the future.”
It is heartwarming to see compassionate young medical students deploy AI technology and social media to help the less fortunate. This campaign has the potential to boost organ donation not only in South Africa but worldwide.
— Prof Elmin Steyn, transplant surgeon and head of Surgery at Stellenbosch University
Apart from raising awareness about organ donation, the Save7 team has also established the first renal patient support group at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town. The support group, driven by a transplant recipient, Melissa Jacobs, has about 50 members.
Jacob’s life struggles during her transplant journey turned into a purpose to help others. “When I was on dialysis, I really would have appreciated someone’s support. Someone coming to educate me about my condition, how to look after my body, how to be self-sufficient, and most importantly, how to handle the emotional and psychological impact that this condition has on me,” she said.
“After my transplant my doctor told me about Save7 and I saw the opportunity to get involved and provide, to those still on dialysis, what I needed.”
Prof Elmin Steyn, transplant surgeon and head of Surgery at Stellenbosch University, commended the student initiative.
“It is heartwarming to see compassionate young medical students deploy AI technology and social media to help the less fortunate. This campaign has the potential to boost organ donation not only in South Africa but worldwide.”
Sachen Naidu, Save7 treasurer, said the goal is to replicate the initiative so that it can be implemented by other students, doctors and transplant coordinators worldwide.
“We’re striving for a plug-and-play solution. We were inspired by the principle of open-source software that lays out the basic framework for others to copy and paste to their own unique environments,” she said.
“This mission involves meticulously documenting their progress, analysing what strategies proved effective and what fell short. The aim is to provide structural and organisational templates that could aid future organ donation initiatives across the continent.”
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