Donating blood easier than never before

On the occasion of World Blood Donors Day, Transasia Bio-Medicals have unveiled ‘SAVIOUR’, a location-based blood donation app that is available free to everyone. It is both available on Google Play and the App Store.

The new app is likely to empower those who have the resources to acquire blood but lose out on timely help due to inadequate blood bank infrastructure. It connects patients to the nearest donors and notifies the patient in real-time on the number of donors who accept the request.

Additionally, it sends out notifications to the registered donors on the need for blood based on their type. Reminders sent by the app, ensure that the donors do not forget about their commitment. Once a donation has been made, a donor is not advised to donate blood in the recovery period.

At this time, the app goes into a precautionary dormant state, in order to ensure complete safety of the donor. Moreover, the app makes it very convenient for donors; they just need to check-in at the nearest hospital through the app, a step that helps save time and ensure credibility. Donors are incentivised with personal goodwill points, based on the number of donations and lives saved.

According to WHO estimates, blood donation by 1 per cent of the population is the minimum needed to meet a country’s basic blood requirements. In 2016-17, India’s blood collection fell 15 per cent over the previous year, or 1.9 million units short of the 1 per cent benchmark.

The WHO norm, however, is based on global averages and does not take into account India-specific factors and disease burden. As per Industry reports, in 2016-17, over 6.57 lakh units of blood and its products were discarded. 50 per cent of the wasted units were Plasma which has a longer shelf life as compared to whole blood and red blood cells that have to be used within 35 days.