Facebook introduces new feature

KARACHI: Facebook is launching a blood donations feature in Pakistan to make it easier for the people to sign up to be blood donors, and to help connect donors with people and organisations in need, a statement said on Tuesday.

Pakistan, like many countries, has a shortage of safe blood. In some cases, this shortage means patients and their families are responsible for finding donors to replace the blood they receive from blood banks or hospitals, it added.

This can cause high-stress situations as people try to find blood donors on their own. Many people are reaching out to their networks on Facebook. There are thousands of posts each month in Pakistan seeking blood donors on Facebook, and over 100,000 people in blood donation groups. This is where Facebook can help, by finding ways to more efficiently bring blood donors, people and organisations together, it added.