SMS for Blood Donors

Blood donation is now more accessible in India, thanks to a creative solution of linking SMS and a blood donor database. Hindustan Times reports:

All it takes is an SMS. Here’s how it works: a person in need of blood sends out a text message to a special number, mentioning, in a particular format, his name, city and the blood group required. Within a few seconds, he gets a return SMS with the name and number of a donor in that city.

The system is the brainchild of Khushroo Pocha, a Grade II railway office superintendent based in Nagpur. The SMSes access his web site, http://www.indianblooddonors.com/, that has a database of 45,000 blood donors in 300 Indian towns and cities.

Since the rural poor are more likely to have a mobile phone than Internet access, an SMS system allows more people to participate than an online database would.