Need for Voluntary Blood Donation

Apr 28
General

Blood is a precious lifesaving resource. Each unit of blood can save up to three lives or more.

The WHO estimates that blood donation by 1% of the population is generally the minimum to meet a nation's most basic need for blood.

In India's case, as per the data of 2016-17, there was a shortage of 1.9 million units (or 15%)

While blood shortage and inconsistency remain a larger issue for India to deal with, the situation has become particularly worrisome owing to the COVID-19 lockdown.

There is an acute shortage of blood in all of Karnataka across various blood banks, with some blood banks having a dip in donations by thirty percent. Blood banks are unable to maintain their own inventory of blood and blood components. Blood banks who are dependent on other blood banks for their patients are hence struggling.

Various challenges have been hampering voluntary blood donation in this period:

Donors are not proactively going to blood banks or hospitals due to the fear of contracting Coronavirus from such places which could be exposed to infected patients
Lockdown has restricted the movement of donors which has worsened the situation
With about 1.5 million cancer cases prevalent in the country, the requirement, despite a reduced demand is still high, doctors say
As per the guidelines issued by the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC), one cannot donate blood 28 days post-vaccination. This will further cause acute shortages of blood in the next few months
With colleges closed, mobilizing students to donate blood continues to be challenged
Until now, there was limited awareness among many blood banks and centers on requisite safety and social distancing protocols to conduct blood collection without creating any safety hazards for personnel and donors.

We at Fortis, BG Road follow The National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) recommendations to blood banks and donor organizers to maintain protocols related to COVID-19 to ensure the safety of all the people involved in blood transfusion services and blood adequacy in such times.

There are strict donor selection guidelines to exclude people with a possible risk of COVID 19. Social Distancing Norms, Use of Personal Protective Equipment are the rule. Strict asepsis is maintained in the Premises of the blood bank.