Life Bank Foundation (Hamro Life Bank)

Our existing hotline service is only centered in the capital city of Nepal- Kathmandu. The funding will be used to scale the existing blood request helpline run by Life Bank Foundation and set up a blood delivery service in other major cities of Nepal. At Life Bank Foundation, we believe technology and proper data management can empower and make any processes efficient. So, we developed and a blood inventory dispatch system (BIDS) to record, manage and analyze blood requests received in the hotline. The budget will also be utilized to upgrade our current blood inventory dispatch system (BIDS). Also, most of the funding will be used to set up logistics services for blood trasnport in the project areas. Total budget for this project will be spent in the following areas - capital expenses (15%) - buying e-scooter and setting up call centers, operation costs + personnel cost (60%) and marketing costs (25%).

LifeBank Foundation is always focused on digital transformation of blood banking sector, aiming to eliminate blood scarcity in Nepal. While our focus is on digital transformation, our Blood Helpline was initiated in 2020 out of necessity to facilitate people to get blood and disseminate blood information to minimize the stress that they go through the blood management process. 

American Nepal Medical Foundation (ANMF) supported the development and setup of a blood information dispatch system that helps the hotline function efficiently. The helpline also worked actively to serve during the COVID crisis to manage COVID Convalescent Plasma for needy, collaboratively with other organizations.

We also work to motivate and retain blood donors and spread awareness on the importance of blood donation. One of our initiatives, Vein to vein -where we track the lifecycle of a blood bag, motivates blood donors to donate regularly by sending them gratitude SMS once their donated blood saves someone’s life. Also, considering the challenges and need for blood donor mobility, we recently partnered with Pathao (ride sharing app) to provide free pick up and drop service for blood donors to nearby blood collection centers. We further aim to provide blood logistics services to needy. 

In Nepal, the process of finding required blood type in blood banks and a blood donor if blood banks are dry is very stressful for patients' families. They rely on their network and social media for help. There is no focal point of information and inventory. They are also responsible to collect and transport the blood, once managed, from blood bank to hospital. Maintaining a cold chain is an important factor to ensure good quality of the blood products but as they aren't trained professionals, the blood quality often gets compromised which is a major factor for blood wastage in Nepal. 

We run a blood helpline which helps patients' families to manage blood during emergencies. The helpline was instrumental in supporting Covid-19 plasma requests in Kathmandu. Our foundational technology is harmonizing donor databases and will be  integrating blood banks’ inventories to harness real time information of blood stock and nearby donors efficiently. In addition to scaling the helpline to more areas, this project also aims to provide blood delivery services to not only help the patient's families to minimize their stress but also to maintain a cold chain to ensure good quality of the blood products and decrease wastage.

Despite huge development in the digital technologies globally, health sector in Nepal hasn't been able to benefit much from it yet, specifically blood banking sector. Most of the interventions and activities conducted are obselete and manual. We, at Life Bank Foundation, are driven by digital technology and believe it can revolutionize the existing blood management system in Nepal. 

Also, despite the technological and medical advancement, blood is the only thing that cannot be manufactured and comes only from kind donors. Thus, blood donor's care is the most important part of the blood management ecosystem. Blood donor care and their retainment with gestures of gratitude is very important to make sure that the blood supply at blood banks are in line with the demands. However, this part of the ecosystem often seems to be less prioritized and an after-though in developing countries like Nepal. For us, blood donors are alwasys in the front and center of our interventions. 

Despite medical and technological advances, blood cannot be made artificially. Managing blood is very cumbersome for a patient’s family. We have partnered with 5 blood banks on digitizing blood inventory to easily identify blood supply in real time. We have also created a database of more than 15,000 regular donors to donate blood when blood banks are dry. We have organized more than 70 regular blood donation events and collected more than 3,500+ pints partnering with different blood banks to help manage supply of blood. 
We have started a blood hotline and have been managing more than 15-20 blood requests daily. Our amazing team has successfully matched the blood requests more than 90% of the time. We have partnered with a local ride sharing company - Pathao to help donors travel to and fro from blood banks when they are requested to donate blood. We are creating a similar system beyond urban areas and have focused on other cities as well in Nepal.
We are creating an ecosystem where no one has to die because of blood shortage and with help of technology and collaboration with local partners we will surely create a safer and healthier world.