Facebook unveils blood donation feature in India, rollout from October 1
Social networking giant Facebook is rolling out a new feature that will enable individuals and blood banks to connect easily with donors. The feature, which has been designed for India, will go live on October 1.
Facebook will also show a message on user's News Feed to encourage them to sign up as a donor. They would be asked to share their blood group and whether they have donated blood before. In case someone is in need of blood, they will be able to create a special type of post containing the information donors need to offer help, like blood group required, hospital's name and contact person's phone number.
"India, like many countries, has a shortage of safe blood. We noticed many times, people turn to platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp to find donors," Ritesh Mehta, Head of Programs for Facebook South Asia, told PTI.