A group of medical students from the University of Stellenbosch is using artificial intelligence (AI) to raise awareness about the importance of organ donations.
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Using algorithms and AI, a non-profit organisation founded by students, is aiming to share its message to more than one million South Africans by the end of August. Jonty Wright, a third-year medical student, founded the Save7 initiative after he met hospital patients who were 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.’
According to Bizcommunity, Wright first built a website to raise awareness and then taught himself a programme for an AI chatbot to answer questions about organ donation in South Africa.
‘Think of it like ChatGPT, except it’s an expert in the field of organ donation. Awareness about organ donation is especially low among the younger generation. 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, than on thinking about death in the future.’
The group established the first renal patient support group at Tygerberg Hospital, which now comprises 50 members. The support group is led by former patient and transplant recipient Melissa Jacobs. ‘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.
‘After my transplant, my doctor told me about Save7 and I saw the opportunity to get involved and provide for the needs of those still on dialysis.’
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Save7 has also partnered with the Organ Donor Foundation of South Africa to assist with online organ donor registrations. ‘You can use Save7.org to sign up and leave a personalised message for your next of kin, which, along with your signature, creates a legally recognisable testament of your commitment to donate your organs. The entire process takes less than a minute and is absolutely free. This is a first in South Africa!’
Users can also encourage their friends and family to register as donors and discuss organ donation using a WhatsApp API.
Since its inception, Save7 has developed backend data systems to simplify the administrative processes involved in transplant referrals, as well as patient support groups. ‘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 Wright.
In addition, Save7 has also partnered with VulaMobile to create a 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.’
The overall goal is to create a system that can be replicated and implemented by students, doctors and transplant coordinators from across the globe.
‘We’re striving for a plug-and-play solution. This mission involves meticulously documenting their progress, analysing what strategies proved effective and what fell short. They aim to provide structural and organisational templates that could aid future organ-donation initiatives across the continent,’ says Sachen Naidu, Save7 treasurer.
‘We were inspired by the principle of open-source software – it lays out the basic framework for others to copy and paste to their own unique environments.’
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