Britain's National Health Service (NHS) and dating app Tinder teamed up to increase organ donation awareness in Britain. Special Tinder profiles of three famous British personalities will lead users who swiped right to an NHS Organ Donor register page.
The Wait campaign, fronted by Gemma Oaten, Jamie Laing and Jade Jones, aims to remind Tinder's 18 to 35-year-old demographics how long transplant patients wait to get a matching organ. Apart from raising awareness, the campaign also encourages people to sign up as organ donors.
"With the help of these bespoke profiles on Tinder, we'll grab people's attention and throw a spotlight on the importance of organ donation," said Sally Johnson, NHS Blood and Transplant's director of organ donation and transplantation. NHS added that their partnership with Tinder aims to grab people's attention and remind them that signing up is just as fast and easy as a few swipes in the dating app.
Johnson stressed that while one third of UK's population expressed their intentions to become organ donors under the NHS Organ Donor Register, many have yet to actually sign up. The UK transplant waiting list has over 7,000 patients. In the last 10 years, over 6,000 patients died before they could get the organ they needed.
"We hope that the NHS profiles...will encourage people to make and act upon a different decision too - to sign up as an organ donor," said Hermione Ways, Tinder's Head of European Communications.
The Wait campaign isn't the first time Tinder made headlines in organ donation and transplant. In November, polycystic kidney disease patient Erika Bragan found a perfect kidney match when her friend Rich O'Dea went on a date with a perfect match on Tinder.
O'Dea met his date Jennifer Thomas about his friend's condition wherein Bragan waited for over three years in the official transplant list. Thomas promised to help and volunteered to take tests that will determine if she's a potential kidney donor.
Thomas turned out to be the perfect match. In an interview, Thomas stressed that O'Dea didn't pressure her into helping his friend.
"Going on a Tinder date, maybe having a romantic relationship, that's great, I mean that's wonderful. A lot of people do that, but I've gained something a lot better," said Thomas.
Photo: Johan Larsson | Flickr
