Blood Donor Day: JDI Urges Nigerians To Adopt J Blood Match
For the commemoration of this year’s World Blood Donor Day on the 14th of June, a day that was set aside in order to create global sensitisation on the need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion as well as the necessary contributions that voluntary blood donors make to their countries health systems, Angela Ochu-Baiye, the founder of Jela’s Development Initiatives (JDI), a nongovernmental organisation, is urging for Nigerians to adopt J Blood Match, which is an Artificial Intelligence powered platform which seamlessly connects unpaid blood donors with those in need of blood to survive.
She gave this charge while on the sidelines of blood donation sensitisation activities that had been organised by the JDI for this year’s World Blood Donor Day, WBDD.
According to her, J Blood Match, which was launched on the 21st of November, 2019, by JDI, is an effective online platform that easily connects individuals in need of blood with voluntary, unpaid donors at no cost. With the assistance of this AI system, the NGO is innovatively building a strong blood donor network that can be easily accessible through online platforms such as Facebook and Telegram.
“The AI processes requests from recipients in government verified hospitals. It’s free. All you need do is to access it on the Facebook or Telegram apps and register.”
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On this year’s WBDD, the Mandela Washington Fellow stated that: “Beyond being a civic duty for me, blood donation requires a heart for humanity. An understanding that donating a unit of blood from your body, which you have now but would deplete in three months because fresh blood cells are generated from your system, is essentially for me not losing our humanity.
“More so, donating blood means that you are keeping your true blood sister or brother’s heart beating because they stay alive and as a result of your donation, their heart beats on. We are all connected irrespective of our locations and when we allow J blood Match connect us to our blood sisters or brothers in need, we are fulfilling our civic duty and in turn keeping the world beating”.
As she called for the support and partnerships with relevant stakeholders within the health sector for an extensive awareness campaign for the system, Ochu-Baiye gave hints that she planned to expand the application of the J Blood Match AI to other neighbouring African nations but wanted it to gain popular adoption in Nigeria first.
J Blood Match AI is integrated into Facebook and Telegram, using Artificial Intelligence to collect donor information, such as gender, location, age, contact information and blood group. A person in need of blood can simply go to the platform, register with the same data, including the blood group, to build a profile. Based on available donor data, the AI scans the system and finds a match who is closest to you.
This year’s slogan for World Blood Donor Day is “Donating blood is an act of solidarity.”. Join the effort and save lives”. It is targeted at drawing attention to the important role that unpaid, voluntary blood donations play in saving lives and enhancing the solidarity within communities.
