Manitoba launches online organ donation registry

Manitobans who want to be organ and tissue donors can now register online.

Any resident of the province, 18 or older, can register to become a donor, using their nine-digit health card number to sign up.

The information will be stored in a secure government database, which can be accessed quickly by doctors.

Manitobans will continue to have other ways of registering, either by signing their health cards or the blue donor cards distributed by Manitoba Public Insurance.

The new registry website also gives donors the chance to help promote organ donation through an optional link to their social media accounts on services such as Facebook.

Kristin Millar had a heart transplant three months ago, and now she's keen to take up running, swimming and other sports.

"I've started running. I am, in fact, the slowest runner in the entire world, but I'm also the happiest," she said.

Millar said most people don't sign organ donor cards because they simply don't think about it, but she said she hopes the website will change that.

The province first announced the registry a year ago at a cost of $100,000.