University Hospitals has lent its support by sponsoring a live Webcast of the scores and a national update of the events through the Website of TransWeb, a site dedicated to providing information on transplantation to potential donors and recipients. The Webcast, sponsors hope, will increase traffic to the site, spreading information about organ transplants to a wider audience. As the 5,000 organs donated annually fall far short of accommodating the 55,000-person-long waiting list, both the University and the game's sponsors have taken a much-needed step toward bringing the issue of organ donation squarely into global consciousness.
Demonstrating the urgency of the issue, a 1996 report reveals that in the United States alone, 3,448 people died in 1995 while on the waiting list for a transplant. The high number of deaths stems largely from America's low number of donors: The FDA reports that only about 20 percent of the families of trauma victims consent to donating their loved ones' organs.
Despite the chasm between demand for organs and their availability, the solution to the problem proves relatively uncomplicated, according to Congress. In a recent report, it contends that better public education and awareness could yield an 80-percent increase in organ donation. In light of this statistic, University Hospitals' participation in publicizing the World Transplant Games constitutes a well-directed effort.
Currently, many Americans do not know the protocol for making their organs and tissues available after their death. Probably the simplest and most effective means of ensuring organ donation merely demands that each person verbalizes his or her wishes to family members or next of kin so that the survivors may convey the wishes of the deceased to doctors. Though driver's license stickers and donor cards also act as means of ensuring donation, the possibility exists that they may be invalidated if a family member or next of kin disputes them.
Michigan residents who wish to donate organs may also register with the Transplant Society of Michigan, which has recently initiated a database of the wishes of all Michigan residents who wish to leave behind their organs.
The paucity of available organs costs the world thousands of lives annually. However, the situation does not have to exist. Publicity and education, as exemplified through the World Transplant Games, can do a great deal to aid those in need of transplants. Many resources exist to encourage organ donation, however, people must have both the knowledge and the desire to use them.