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Technology | Open an app, store blood -KM Rakesh

Open an app, store blood -KM Rakesh

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published Published on Apr 4, 2016   modified Modified on Apr 4, 2016
-The Telegraph

Bangalore: A mobile app that enables donors to save blood for future use by maintaining accounts was launched today by an ad agency that has joined hands with the Indian Red Cross Society's Karnataka branch.

Possibly the world's first such project, an app called Blood Banking on iOS and Android platforms was launched with an eye on the younger generation that is more attuned to smart technologies for anything from ordering food to banking.

"This is the first such app in the world," Senthil Kumar, the chief creative officer of J Walter Thompson India, said yesterday about the project that goes with the catchphrase "Save your blood, secure your future".

"Our effort is to redefine blood donation itself by focusing on banking (blood), like we do with saving our money," said Kumar, citing the app's built-in features that allow one to open an account, find a Red Cross location, fix a time to donate, bank the blood for later use and even transfer the credits to someone in need.

"It is like saving blood the way you save your money. You deposit, withdraw or transfer as per your needs," said Kumar, the brain behind the project being handled pro bono for the Red Cross Society.

Each account holder will get a unique ID that would help keep track of the account through the app. The account holder can withdraw the credited blood units or transfer them to anyone of the same group.

Although the app can be accessed from anywhere, the facility will be launched only for Karnataka for now. "We will progressively take this to all the states and make a presentation to the government of India and its health ministry," said Kumar.

The Red Cross chapters of Mexico and Lebanon have already approached J Walter Thomson to launch the app in those countries.

The app is expected to change the way tech-savvy youngsters look at blood banking. "Smartphone users can now get every possible detail about Red Cross blood banks through the app. We are sure this will increase awareness about the need to donate blood and even bank it for one's own use," he added.

The collaboration will also ensure that the entire database of the Red Cross Karnataka chapter is digitised. The agency's own digital advertising arm, Mirum, worked on the project for around four months from conception, said Kumar.

Ashok Kumar Shetty, the general secretary of the Karnataka chapter of the Red Cross, said he expected the app to set off a manifold increase in blood donations.

"A lot of young people want to donate but don't know where to and how to donate. I am sure this app will solve that problem," Shetty said.

While there are other apps that provide addresses and timings of blood banks, he said none worked like a proper bank where the donor could save credits for the donated units. "This app works just like a bank account, only that you won't be getting your own blood when you withdraw or transfer," he said.

The Red Cross collected 31,000 units of blood from Bangalore alone through its various camps. The number for the first three months of this year is 10,500 units. Across Karnataka, it collected around one-lakh units in 2015.

"From what I see, this app will bring more urban youth to donate blood since there is this element of saving," he said. While most blood banks insist on replacement donors for units sold, Red Cross has been mustering its stock through camps.

"We just charge a nominal processing fee for units sold," said Shetty, citing the Rs 900 per unit charged for whole blood.

"We just grabbed the idea when J Walter Thomson approached us with the possibility of building an app in tune with the requirements of today's young people," said Shetty.

Priya R. Rao, who passed out of college last year, sounded receptive to the concept of the app. "I haven't heard about this. But I think it'll connect with the young," said the girl, who has twice donated blood at camps held in her college.
 
The Telegraph, 4 April, 2016, please click here to read more

The Telegraph, 4 April, 2016, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160404/jsp/nation/story_78238.jsp#.VwHXV3o1t_k


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