Facebook Introduces New Feature To Help Increase Blood Donations In India

Facebook has introduced a new feature in India in a bid to connect blood donors across India with hospitals and organisations in need of blood. Facebook cites “shortage of safe blood” in India as the reason behind this step. In a blog, Facebook said that users in India already use the wide spread platform to connect donors with donees. Facebook will use its network to help both the parties here by helping donors sign up and work with NGOs, health industry experts to make sure the method useful.

In the blog, Facebook posted about the process and how the feature will work:

Starting October 1 — National Blood Donor Day — Facebook users in India will be able to start signing up to be blood donors. To help encourage participation, we’ll show a message in News Feed or people can edit their Profiles to sign up. All information will remain private and set to “only me” by default, but people can choose to share their donor status on their timelines.

In the next few weeks, in order to easily connect blood banks, hospitals or NGOs with donors, Facebook will introduce custom posts wherein all the necessary details can be given. Facebook will then notify potential donors near to the entered location. Donors can then review the request and, if they wish to respond, contact the requestor directly through WhatsApp, Messenger or a phone call. To maintain anonymity, the person who needs blood won’t be able to see any information about the donor, unless the donor explicitly provides it when he/she reaches out to the person in need of blood.

The post continued:

We hope this new feature helps people come together in ways that weren’t possible before. By raising awareness and growing the number of blood donors in India, we want to make it easier for people and organisations to give and receive blood.

If you want to sign up for the program or learn more about the initiative, log on to facebook.com/donateblood.