2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

In Lebanon, owing to low awareness of blood donation, blood donors are low. 90% of instances in Lebanon primarily uses replacement donation, where patients who need blood have to find it themselves, putting pressure on families already dealing with a medical emergency. Only 10% comes from voluntary donations, a modest amount, achieved in large part due to the work of NGOs and civil society groups. To complicate matters further, Lebanon’s health-care sector is made of public and private hospitals often acting independently. The blood supply in Lebanon is highly fragmented and relies on the service provided by over 100 private and governmental hospitals. NGOs have been working to address this, promoting the volunteer donation system, where individuals give blood to be stored and used without requiring involvement from those who need it. But being NGOs and no brands supported this cause, their efforts remain limited in their impact and reach.

The Interpretation of the Challenge (30% of vote)

Donner Sang Compter is a Lebanese non-governmental organization that promotes voluntary blood donation. It helps patients in need of blood by linking them to voluntary blood donors registered on its database, or by raising stocks of blood banks through low-budget blood donation drives. But, those low-budget blood donation campaigns are never enough. And compounded by the fact that there is no central blood bank, patients in Lebanon are forced to turn to social media in desperation. So, Donner Sang Compter sought help to create awareness about the importance of giving blood. The goal was to create buzz about blood donation by letting people know that it was meaningful to do so, and then, enable people to donate blood. The challenge was to break through, on a low budget, and attract blood donors.

The Insight / Breakthrough Thinking (30% of vote)

Audience insight: For some Muslims, Ashura is a solemn day of mourning the martyrdom of Hussein in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq. It is marked with mourning rituals and parades on streets re-enacting the martyrdom and the sacrifice through bloodletting. We were targeting these Muslims who’d participate in blood-letting. Engagement opportunity: What they hadn’t been told before was how their blood that is usually spilled could be used to benefit someone else if they only donated it. Strategic approach: So, our strategy was to educate them about their blood that could save lives by converting and transforming an occasion where they spilled blood into one where they gave blood to those in need. Strategic bravery: We were addressing a sensitive religious topic that could ignite sectarian conflict. It could be seen as culturally offensive. Hence, we needed to show empathy and give a deeper meaning to the occasion.

The Creative Idea (20% of vote)

"Blood Unity" We tapped into an extremely relevant occasion: Ashura. It is the tenth day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. It marks the day that Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was martyred in the Battle of Karbala. On the Day of Ashura, a day of public mourning, Muslims in Lebanon commemorate the death of Imam Hussein by spilling their blood. While these men willingly spill their blood on the streets, Lebanon remains in desperate need of anyone who will willingly give their blood to those in need. So, for Donner Sang Compter, we did something daring given the region and its sensitivities when it comes to anything to do with cultural and religious traditions, and leveraged the Day of Ashura as the stage, and created Blood Unity, an initiative that encouraged those who spilled blood to donate it instead.

The Outcome / Results (20% of vote)

RESULT 1: A CHANGE IN BEHAVIOUR. We turned bloodletting into blood giving. A donor who formerly spilled blood said, “I used to be one of those people that struck my head with an open razor until I realized that the blood spilled on the floor, was needed by so many others.” RESULT 2: RECORD HIGH BLOOD DONATION. Blood Donations in Lebanon hit a national record with this campaign. We collected 700 blood units; 400% more than what’s expected from a standard donation drive. RESULT 3: LIVES SAVED. These blood units donated saved 1965 lives, compared to 360 from the usual 3-day blood donation drives. RESULT 4: AWARENESS AND FOUNDATIONS FOR THE FIRST NATIONAL BLOOD BANK. While the amount of blood raised was important, what was also important was the amount of awareness raised among Lebanese, and this has helped the nation take strides towards creating Lebanon’s first National Blood Bank.