The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Wednesday, March 10, announced that individuals who are interested to donate their blood can now do so using Facebook.
This, after Facebook - also on March 10 - officially confirmed that its Blood Donations feature is now available in the Philippines.
In partnership with the Department of Health (DOH) and the PRC, people can sign up to get notifications about donating blood, and information on nearby DOH and PRC blood service facilities (BSF).
Since June 2020, both the PRC and DOH have been calling for more Filipinos to donate blood due to a shortage in supply.
The PRC noted that with quarantine restrictions in place and increased demand brought by medical concerns requiring blood transfusion, it is “critical to boost current blood service facilities reserves.”
PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senator Richard J. Gordon underscored the need to ensure that the Philippines has adequate blood supply - thus, at least one percent of the country's population should donate blood.
“Due to the quarantine restrictions and fear brought by the COVID19 pandemic, volunteer blood donors have been limited,” Gordon said.
Given this, PRC appealed to those who want to help and save the lives of people in need of blood to sign up for Facebook’s Blood Donation feature.
“We have blood donation centers nationwide which follow health protocols so that people can safely donate blood,” Gordon said. “Nothing is more meaningful than being able to save the lives of others by donating your own precious blood,” he added.
Starting March 10, PRC noted that Facebook users in the Philippines - aged 18 to 65 - will be able to see the Blood Donations feature on their feeds.
Users can sign up to receive notifications about donating blood on Facebook and set reminders simply by clicking it.
The users will also get to see which nearby blood service facilities need blood donations as well as invite family and friends to take action.
“Often potential donors don’t know where and when to donate, but from research we learned that when donors have information and opportunities to give blood, they step up to help their community," said Clare Amador, Head of Public Policy, Facebook Philippines. "Together with the Department of Health and the Philippine Red Cross, we aim to help boost voluntary blood donations and build sustainable blood supply across the Philippines,” she added.
Since the Blood Donations feature was launched in 2017, over 85 million people have signed up to receive notifications from nearby blood service facilities about opportunities to donate.
The Blood Donations feature is available in 31 countries, including the Philippines.
To register as a blood donor on Facebook, log on to: http://facebook.com/donateblood.
More details on how to use the Facebook Blood Donations feature are available on https://socialgood.fb.com/health/blood-donations/.
Meanwhile, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III also commended the initiative. “The pandemic underscored the importance of blood donations across the Philippines. Through our partnership with Facebook, we hope to reach more potential donors and build a stable and safe supply of blood that can save lives,” he added.