Twitter on Tuesday unveiled a social initiative called #BloodMatters which is aimed at driving awareness on blood donation and bridging the gap between donors and those in need.
Blood Donors India, a voluntary blood donation helpline, is the first partner of the initiative. The microblogging platform said it is expanding the reach of the helpline through Twitter Lite, which provides data-friendly access to real-time information exchange on blood donations across India.
“Despite a huge population...there is a huge gap between what is available [supply of blood units] and what is actually needed,” said Taranjeet Singh, Country Director, Twitter India. Only nine million blood units are available annually in India, against a demand of 12 million units, according to the World Health Organization.
