That little pink ``donor dot'' on your driver's license just went digital.

California's first online registry for prospective organ donors was launched Monday, a move advocates hope will increase the supply of life-saving hearts, lungs, livers and other parts desperately needed by the 18,000 people on waiting lists in the state.

Until now, dots and paper cards carried with California drivers licenses have often beenthe only record of a person's desire to donate organs. But the dots can fall off and licenses can be unavailable at the time of death, leaving little time for families to make tough decisions about their loved ones' donation wishes.

Only about 10 percent of people eligible to donate organs are carrying a donor card or dot when they die, said David Heneghan of the California Transplant Donor Network, one of the groups that established the registry.

``The registry allows someone to go online, make a decision and make sure their wishes are carried out,'' he said.

Each registrant can save up to eight lives as an organ donor and improve up to 50 others through donation of tissues such as corneas, bones and skin. Personal information entered on the Donate Life California Registry, a confidential and secure database, will be accessible only to authorized organ and tissue recovery personnel.

In addition to providing personal information, individuals must provide an electronic signature, affirming that they are registering on behalf of themselves. After signing up, registrants can e-mail their decision to friends and family.

Donors are allowed to modify their decisions online, but organ and tissue donation commitments entered into the registry are legally binding documents, which prohibit family members from overruling someone's wishes.

The registry was authorized in 2001 by a bill sponsored by State Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo. But state budget woes impeded initial efforts to establish the database. The project was rescued by a 2003 Speier bill that transferred funding the development responsibilities from the California Health and Human Services Agency to a non-profit run by the state's four organ procurement organizations. Thirty-six other states have registries, not all online.

The registry is linked to California's Department of Motor Vehicles Web site, which will offer people the chance to donate their organs when they go online to renew their drivers' licenses. Another bill Speier introduced in February would require the department to collect donor designation information on all driver's license, ID card and vehicle registration applications.

Registry officials expect these links to provide a tremendous boost to new sign-ups. In states whose organ donation registries do not have DMV participation, fewer than 5 percent of residents sign up, Heneghan said. But in states that have partnerships with the DMV, about 70 percent of residents register.

On Monday, the California registry's launch was marked at a dozen statewide press conferences involving local elected officials.

``I have always been an advocate of sustainability,'' said Palo Alto Mayor Jim Burch at Stanford University's White Plaza, ``and what you're talking about here is the ultimate recycling program.'' Burch and San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales declared Monday ``Donate Life California Day.''

Organ transplants are relatively new, said Dr. Carlos Esquivel, chief of the division of transplantation at Stanford University Medical Center. But since the world's first successful kidney transplant was performed in Boston in 1954, science has advanced and techniques have improved dramatically. ``The limiting factor in transplantation is organ shortage,'' Esquivel said Monday.

Seventeen people in the United States die each day waiting for life-saving organ transplants. About 87,000 people nationwide are awaiting organs.

These statistics take on special meaning for Palo Alto resident Marilyn Anderson, whose 10-year-old granddaughter Miranda received a liver transplant when she was 6 months old. As part of a January church lesson on stewardship -- 100 people were each given $100 and challenged to put it to good use -- Anderson decided to use her money to promote organ donation.

She got in touch with Cathy Olmo at the California Transplant Donor Network, who connected her with a handful of Stanford medical students who were seeking funds to help get the word out on organ donation.

``It's such a shame to have useful organs not get used,'' said Anderson, who got friends and colleagues on board, collecting $1,500 for the student project and Monday's registry launch.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED: Register to become an organ and tissue donor at www.donatelifecalifornia.org or at the Spanish-language site, www.donevidacalifornia.org.

For more information, call the Transplant Network at (888) 570-9400 or visit www.ctdn.org.

Reference:
Landhuis, E. ( 2005). New site lets organ donors register life-saving choices. San Jose Mercury News (April 5, 2005). Retrieved on 04/05/05 from http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/health/11315914.htm