On the occasion of World Blood Donors Day, Transasia Bio-Medicals Ltd., India’s leading In-vitro Diagnostic Company, today unveiled ‘SAVIOUR’, a location-based blood donation app that is available free to everyone. It is the first in India to be on both Google Play and App Store. The new app is likely to empower those who have the resources to acquire blood but lose out on timely help due to inadequate blood bank infrastructure. It connects patients to the nearest donors and notifies the patient in real-time on the number of donors who accept the request. Additionally, it sends out notifications to the registered donors on the need for blood based on their type. Reminders sent by the app, ensure that the donors do not forget about their commitment. Once a donation has been made, a donor is not advised to donate blood in the recovery period. At this time, the app goes into a precautionary dormant state, in order to ensure complete safety of the donor. Moreover, the app makes it very convenient for donors; they just need to check-in at the nearest hospital through the app, a step that helps save time and ensure credibility. Donors are incentivized with personal goodwill points, based on the number of donations and lives saved.
In his comments, Suresh Vazirani, Chairman & Managing Director, Transasia Bio-Medicals Ltd., said, “Blood donation saves millions of lives. The new app is another by Transasia in line with our mission since inception, to make healthcare affordable and address the limited access to quality medical infrastructure for the masses. As the name rightly connotes, ‘SAVIOUR’ has been developed with a vision to empower both donors and patients and to save them from unethical practices which have led to corruption and exploitation of the needy. We will invest heavily in the promotion of the new app to facilitate its widespread use and save as many lives as possible. I would like to thank my team for their efforts in developing this app and ensuring it addresses most gaps with existing alternatives. I urge the healthy youth of our nation to register on the app as donors and share the light of their life.”
According to WHO estimates, blood donation by 1% of the population is the minimum needed to meet a country’s basic blood requirements. In 2016-17, India’s blood collection fell 15% over the previous year, or 1.9 million units short of the 1% benchmark. The WHO norm, however, is based on global averages and does not take into account India-specific factors and disease burden. As per Industry reports, in 2016-17, over 6.57 lakh units of blood and its products were discarded. 50% of the wasted units was Plasma which has a longer shelf life as compared to whole blood and red blood cells that have to be used within 35 days.