LIFELINK

LifeLink – Making blood donation simple, safe, and inclusive through digital innovation.

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Inspiration

In Africa, blood shortages remain a life-threatening challenge. For example, in Senegal, only 65% of blood needs were met in 2022, leaving a critical gap that contributes to preventable deaths—especially maternal mortality from hemorrhage. We were inspired to create LifeLink after realizing that the lack of digital infrastructure, fragmented medical records, and limited donor engagement all worsen this crisis. We wanted to build a solution that empowers donors, supports doctors, and strengthens communities.

What it does

LifeLink is a digital platform that simplifies and secures blood donation.

  • Donors use a mobile app to register, track their donation history, and decide what medical data to share with doctors through a digital health ID.
  • Doctors use a web interface to request specific health information and determine donor eligibility, powered by eSignet consent workflows.
  • Community impact: Donors can see real-time statistics, learn how many lives their donations help save, and receive educational support via a multilingual AI chatbot that breaks taboos around blood donation.
  • Digital health card: A secure digital medical record linked to each donor’s ID, ensuring interoperability and accessibility.

How we built it

  • Digital identity: Integrated MOSIP’s Inji & eSignet for secure authentication and data sharing.
  • Frontend: Mobile app for donors (React Native) and web dashboard for doctors (ReactJS).
  • Backend: ExpressJS + SQLite for lightweight storage and APIs.
  • AI integration: Chatbot powered by a lightweight LLM to support multilingual interactions, especially for low-literacy users.
  • Notifications: USSD + push notifications for urgent blood requests in rural areas.

Challenges we ran into

  • Designing a privacy-first consent flow where donors control what medical data is shared.
  • Ensuring accessibility for users in rural areas with low internet connectivity.
  • Building trust in digital identity and AI-powered systems in healthcare contexts.
  • Coordinating multiple technologies (identity, AI, mobile, web) in a short hackathon timeframe.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Successfully prototyped a donor-to-doctor consent system using eSignet.
  • Built an inclusive chatbot that supports local languages and voice guidance.
  • Designed a digital health record integration model inspired by India’s ABDM.
  • Created an end-to-end solution that not only collects blood but also educates, motivates, and builds community impact.

What we learned

  • The power of digital identity (MOSIP) in healthcare goes far beyond authentication—it enables trust and consent.
  • Building for Africa requires offline-first, low-resource-friendly design.
  • Community engagement features (impact statistics, testimonials) are just as important as technical infrastructure to drive adoption.

What's next for LIFELINK

  • Pilot deployment with local hospitals and blood banks in Senegal.
  • Expand the digital health record to cover more health services beyond blood donation.
  • Integrate predictive AI to anticipate blood shortages and optimize collection campaigns.
  • Partner with NGOs and governments to scale LifeLink across West Africa, turning blood donation into a culture of solidarity.

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