The South Africa National Blood Service (SANBS) has partnered with Facebook to encourage people to donate blood. Citizens over 18 years old will have the option to sign up as blood donors on Facebook. They will then be notified when blood donor centres near them have an urgent need for donations.
The Facebook users can also invite friends to donate. With South Africa being the first African country that Facebook has launched this feature, this initiative comes at a crucial time as the country starts to see a significant drop in blood donations as a result of people staying home to prevent the spread of Covid-19, despite health institutions like the World Health Organisation saying it is still safe to donate blood.
Since its launch in 2017, Facebook has partnered with blood donation centres around the world, with more than 60 million people having signed up to be blood donors on Facebook in the US, Brazil, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Commenting on the partnerships, Nunu Ntshingila, regional director, Facebook Africa, said: “We continue to remain committed to building safe and supportive communities on Facebook during these difficult times. We want to make it easy to connect people who want to donate with opportunities to give, while learning about the blood donation opportunities near them and inspiring action. This is an important partnership with SANBS and the Western Cape Blood Service and one which we believe will make a positive difference to blood giving here in South Africa.”
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Silungile Mlambo, chief marketing officer at SANBS, added: “We face a number of challenges with regard to the collection of blood each year. This year, the pandemic brought us a new challenge. We are hopeful that through this tool we will have better reach to all our donors. This will revolutionise the way we connect with our donors, allowing us to work smarter and optimise our resources.”
According to Trude Gareekoe, from the Boksburg SANBS, it is critical for the blood bank to be proactive now that the country is moving down to level three of the lockdown.
“Blood is going to be in high demand and we need South Africans to donate blood now more than ever. Surgeries that were postponed during level five and four of the lockdown will now take place. There might also be more car accidents as more people are going to be on the roads.”
She highlighted that they urge community members to donate blood as they are still struggling to collect blood donations.
“We have mobile blood drives to encourage people to donate blood, but we’re not receiving as much units as we would like to. Companies that used to donate blood are also not allowed to do that anymore,” she explained.
She further pointed out that many people will be unable to donate blood in winter, typically the colds and flu season.
The SANBS has taken precautionary measures to ensure the people who utilise their facilities are protected. They are assessing donors at all entry points to their facilities and mobile sites. They have also equipped all sites with additional antiseptic sprays and alcohol-based wipes. Staff members are also wearing aprons and visors.
“The donors and staff members are our first priority and we want to keep them safe,” said Trude.
The donor centre at the East Rand Mall remains accessible. Their operating hours will be from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 2pm on weekends. Donors are advised to use entrance three.
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