The Lebanese social media is filled with posts asking people to donate blood. With many urgent cases and not enough donors, some people lose their lives because their needs were not met right on time. The problem in Lebanon is that the fastest way to ask for blood is using social media, which is obviously not very convenient. So a Lebanese woman called Roula El Halabi thought that there should be a platform that builds a link between blood donors and recipients. She came up with this idea after her friend needed blood during the war in 2006 and she had a hard time finding a donor. El Halabi found the best approach to solving this national issue: she created a mobile application called iBloodlink. This app serves as a network that gathers donors, recipients, hospitals and blood banks.
How does iBloodlink work?
Users register their emails and blood types. When their donation is needed, they will receive a push notification. Users should also meet certain requirements. They should be: – 18 years old or above – eligible for blood donation (this should be verified with their physician) – aware of their medical history iBloodlink operates in Lebanon as well as in other countries which are the following: USA, Spain, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Sweden, Nigeria, UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Germany.
Blood donation awareness campaigns
In fact, the lack of the blood donation culture in Lebanon has made some people do awareness campaigns. The first campaign that took over social media consisted of
posters appearing all over the world requesting blood donation in Lebanon.
The second one was at Divvy that partnered up with Donner Sang Compter on World Blood Donor Day. This restaurant in Lebanon
replaced table mats with blood donor application forms
. Also, those who filled in the application were thanked on behalf of the ones that will receive their blood. You can watch the video here. iBloodlink is available on the
and
.
