Hyderabad: In order to overcome the shortage of blood donors due to the COVID-19 lockdown in the county, an online platform called ‘BloodForIndia’ has been launched to create a bridge between blood banks and common citizens. This is an initiative by Natural Ice Cream in collaboration with non-profit partners BloodConnect and Think Foundation will organize micro blood donation camps across India.
“The second wave of COVID-19 has been devastating. Several blood donation camps are impacted due to lockdowns, due to which blood banks ran out of supplies. Hospitals were forced to delay major surgeries because of blood shortages. Continuation of such a situation could cause another public health crisis amidst the pandemic,” said a press release from ‘BloodForIndia’ on Tuesday.
People across India can register themselves on ‘BloodForIndia’ as donors, collaborators, and partners to host a blood donation camp. Information on the nearest camp can be found by selecting the area pin code. To know more about the initiative, log on to www.bloodforindia.org.
The mission of ‘BloodForIndia’ is to create a 2-way path between blood banks and common citizens. People can make a difference in three major ways: Register to collaborate or register as a donor or register to host a camp. Donors can also find information about the nearest camp in their locality by selecting their area pin-code, said the release.
Once registered, eligibility criteria and general FAQs are presented to the volunteers on relevant information before donating, along with COVID-19 related queries. The volunteers are given an appointment through mail. “It’s the urgent need of the hour we help these foundations,” Siddhant Kamath, spokesperson and Director of Naturals Ice creams said.