logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2017
23m 32s

How to Get Blood Where it is Needed

Bbc World Service
About this episode

The availability of blood for transfusions saves lives after difficult births and operations. But in much of the developing world, hospitals have a blood shortage. One entrepreneur in Nigeria is working on a solution. She has developed an app that connects blood banks to hospitals, and has built a network of moped drivers to ferry blood around Lagos, the largest city in the country. World Hacks investigates whether her solution can save lives.

Also on the programme, the designers of a new “city tree” – large structures filled with moss that attempt to absorb pollution from the air.

Presenter: Mukul Devichand Reporters: Stephanie Hegarty and Dougal Shaw

Image: Moped driver in Lagos / Credit: BBC

Up next
Jul 28
Who does the housework?
How much work do you do to keep your household running smoothly? Figures suggest domestic work still falls mostly to women - leading to resentment and burnout. This week we’re hearing from Indonesia and Croatia about projects helping change that. In rural Indonesia we visit the i ... Show More
23m 27s
Jul 21
How to make cities better for everyone
A special edition of People Fixing The World recorded in front of a live audience at the University of Nairobi as part of the BBC’s Future of Journalism Festival.Cities around the world are growing fast - they are the most efficient way of supporting large numbers of people. But ... Show More
30m 13s
Jul 13
How to reuse and repair
Across the world, everyday products — from kitchen appliances to electronics — are often thrown away rather than repaired. The latest UN estimates suggest people generate around 2 billion tonnes of household and everyday waste each year. This week we travel to Argentina to meet p ... Show More
22m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
Blood farm
Tens of thousands of lives could be saved each year if hospitals had more blood. So scientists are racing to understand how this living fluid does what it does in order to one day grow it from scratch. Guest: Nicola Twilley, New Yorker contributor and host of Gastropod. For show ... Show More
25m 26s
Aug 2025
Reinventing Blood
Dr. Allan Doctor is the co-founder and chief scientific officer at Kalocyte, a company that is developing dried red blood cells that can be rehydrated and used in medical emergencies. On today’s show, Dr. Doctor explains the complex science behind artificial blood, and how this i ... Show More
35m 45s
Aug 2023
Why aren’t more of us donating blood?
Friends and family are often called on to donate blood to loved ones in a medical emergency or ahead of routine surgery. But across the continent, there is a shortfall in blood needed for life saving transfusions. The World Health Organisation estimates that they are only meeting ... Show More
21m 33s
Apr 2023
New way of giving lifesaving drug in childbirth
Researchers in Zambia and Pakistan have shown that a drug which helps to stop bleeding in childbirth is safe to give by injection into a muscle - making it easier to save women’s lives where skilled help isn’t always close by. Tranexamic acid is usually given by a drip into a vei ... Show More
28m 38s
Nov 2024
Blood Transfusions
Send us Fan MailNinja Nerds!Welcome to the Ninja Nerd Podcast with Zach and Rob! In this episode, we dive into blood transfusions, breaking down the essential components and clinical uses. We will discuss packed red blood cell transfusions (PRBC) for anemia management, platelet t ... Show More
1 h
Oct 2021
Can technology transform emergency services?
Getting to hospital in a medical emergency, in countries without a centralised ambulance service, can be critically slow. In rapidly urbanising Kenya, Vivienne Nunis meets Caitlin Dolkart – cofounder of Flare; a company which created a technology platform to dispatch ambulances a ... Show More
17m 28s
Apr 2017
Podcast 197 – The Logistics of the Administration of Massive Transfusion
The hands-on of orchestrating a massive transfusion protocol 
25m 39s
Apr 2024
Du sang (Blood)
tail spinning
2m 31s