Facebook steps in to help Kenya’s drying blood bank
The Health Ministry has partnered with Facebook to drive a blood donation campaign among users in Kenya in order to help get more blood in the bank.
The ministry on Friday raised concern over the drop of blood donation in the country since the Covid-19 disease hit the country.
People are now forced to stay home and this causes difficulties for hospitals and other medical facilities to collect donations.
To help with this campaign, the Ministry said they were partnering with Facebook to ease the collection of blood.
According to Facebook, the blood donation feature helps people know where there are shortages and where they can safely donate blood.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman said that the drop has caused a major strain in the country and there was a need to restock.
“Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service (KNBTS) used to collect about 500 pints of blood every day. With the onset of Covid-19 in the country, the situation has changed and the figures have dropped,” he said.
Besides Facebook, the ministry has also launched a blood donation campaign thus appealing to Kenyans to come out for the exercise.
“As part of the effort to appeal to our people to volunteer and donate blood, we have collaborated with Facebook and Damu Sasa Systems who have used their platforms to mobilize blood donors for the next two days,” said the CAS.
Through Facebook, one can sign up to be a blood donor by going to Blood Donations in the About section of their profile.
When blood donation centres need donors, they can request donations and send notifications to those nearby.
Then, you will be able to see requests and opportunities to donate on Blood Donations on Facebook.