Type: Charitable
PHASE: Pilot
CATEGORY: Health
LOCATION: New Delhi, India
BloodConnect
Asia

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We aim to tackle the grim situation of blood in India. We do this by conducting regular blood donation camps, information sessions and maintaining a helpline for blood emergencies.

Standings & Awards

3 out of 1313 in Asia
1 out of 284 in Health
3 out of 573 in Pilot
2 out of 992 in Charitable
7 out of 4003 Overall
There is a shortage of over 2 million blood units in India. We work to reduce this number....

BloodConnect is an initiative taken up by motivated students from IIT Delhi and the University of Delhi. We are working to ensure that no person in Delhi (in the pilot phase) has to suffer due to the shortage of blood in the case of medical emergencies. The need for such an initiative arises out of the low number of regular, voluntary blood donors in Delhi.

We believe that no patient should have to search for replacement blood donors in the time of need. Blood banks should be fully stocked, and capable of supplying blood on demand. Towards this ideal, we conduct regular blood donation camps in college campuses and residential areas. This not only keeps the blood banks up to stock, but also helps in educating people about blood donation and dispelling any misconceptions they may have about it. Through blood donation camps, we have saved over 5000 lives!!

Until we can obtain this long-term goal, we would like to provide patients with a reliable source of blood in the case of medical emergencies. To this end, we run a helpline, over which patients can place requests for blood. If the request is deemed an emergency, we arrange for the requisite number of units of blood through our database of voluntary blood donors. 104 lives have been saved through our helpline till now.

Till now we have saved more than 5000 lives through our helpline and blood donation camps. We aim to save many more in the coming years!!

Support Your Idea Optional (5 - 7 minutes for three uploads)

Supporting Document: 
image/jpeg iconAward Given by ISBTI for promotion of Voluntary Blood Donation

Roadmap to Success Optional (1 - 3 minutes to upload)

Roadmap to Success: 
application/pdf iconroadmap_to_success.pdf

Sponsors, Investors, and Supporters

Sapna NGO
Partner
Sapna NGO provides free healthcare support to patients who cannot support their medical treatment. We send bi-weekly donors to help them. They supported us in 14 blood donation camps by providing refreshments for donors (30cents per donor).
Green Shakti Foundation
Sponsor
Rs 20,000 (400$) sponsored for BloodConnect 2nd Anniversary Celebration event at India Habitat Centre The event involved panel discussion with various blood banks, awards to regular donors and camp organizers.
Indian Society of Blood Transfusion and Immunohematology
ISBTI is a government organization. For each camp which has more than 75 voluntary blood donations, ISBTI gives BloodConnect Rs 2500 (50$). This is being followed under the government ruling. Till now, we have received Rs15,000 (300$).

FIVE PROJECT QUESTIONS Required (60 - 90 minutes)

1. What is your innovation? 
BloodConnect, a students’ initiative, attempts to tackle the grim situation of blood. We serve as a direct link between people willing to donate blood and people who need it. We organize regular blood donation camps in colleges/localities. We also maintain a secure, non-public data-base of voluntary blood donors. In case of an emergency, we can call upon these donors to donate blood as replacement. This helpline has been a life-saver for many, especially during seasonal outbreaks of dengue.
2. Who gains the most? 
Two major beneficiaries of this project are under-previliged people(example: Immigrants for treatment) and people with rare blood groups. Both these groups benefit immensely if blood banks remain in stock. We have been successful in arranging for large quantities of rare blood groups in the case of medical emergencies or surgical procedures, by relying on our donor data-base. We even help NGOs like CanSupport and Sapna NGO by sending them donors in case of requirement.
3. Who pays? 
We accept no renumeration in return for our services. In case of helpline, if the emergency donor has to travel a large distance, the recipient(patient's relative for which the donor is going) is requested to fund the travel. We receive a sum of INR 2500 (50$) from ISBTI (under a directive by the Government of Delhi) for every donation camp conducted which has over 75 donations. In addition to this, we seek funding/support from companies/NGOs in the form of CSR grants and collaborations.
4. What is your success? 
1 year •Major colleges in Delhi have a BloodConnect wing •Target: 2500 Blood Donations through camps, 300 Helpline Requests in a year: Saving more than 7000 lives. 3 years •Expansion to another city •6000 Blood Donations through camps, 800 Helpline Requests in a year: Helping more than 17000 people. 5 years •Set up in 4 Cities. •Major colleges in the cities have a BloodConnect Wing •30000 Blood Donations through camps, 1700 Helpline Requests: Helping more than 85000 people.
5. How will you do it? 
A two tier structure will ensure proper implementation of BloodConnect activities in each city. 1st tier- Core team members responsible for marketing, management, training and College Heads representing each college which has BloodConnect club. 2nd tier- College volunteers responsible for organizing camps in their college, maintaining database and handling helpline. To ensure sustainability, each college BloodConnect Club, would function under the social service wing of the college.