Donate blood, save lives

BANGALORE: With yet another World Blood Donor Day being celebrated today, voluntary blood donation in the country is still not able to achieve much success. Only about 50-55 per cent of blood donation is happening voluntarily, said Dr Lata Jagannath, Medical Director and Managing Trustee, Rotary TTK Blood Bank.In addition, the lack of centralized blood policy for blood collection centres in the state as well as at the Centre is another major problem the blood banks are facing. Says Lata, “Karnataka has about 160 small blood collection centres, still, they are not able to meet the demand.” ‘Focus on quality needed’Commenting on the theme for World Blood Donor Day 2011 - “More blood, more life” - she said, “In addition to the quantity, we need to pay more attention to quality.Apart from the blood, blood banks should be concentrating on blood components such as plasma and platelets as each unit of blood will be useful for three-four people.” “Last year, we had collected about 30,000 units of blood and we have the capacity to extend it to 60,000 units. But the lack of voluntary donors is a problem,” she adds.Mallika S, Administrator, Lions Blood Bank, voices a similar opinion. She says, “We collect blood through voluntarily donations. On an average, we collect about 1,500- 2000 units of blood every month. Our reach is only around Bangalore city and rural areas. Still we are not able to meet the demand of the blood.”   “As of now many of the IT companies are conducting camps and donating blood voluntarily. But still more awareness about voluntary blood donation needs to be created among the general public, so that we can achieve blood sufficiency in the state for supplying as and when required,” she added.‘Donating blood is advantageous’Speaking to The New Indian Express about the advantages of blood donation, Dr Renu Ethirajan, consultant pathologist and Blood Bank Officer, HCG Hospital, said, “One unit of whole blood increases hemoglobin by 0.75gm/dl for 350 ml. If the hemoglobin levels go up, the individual will be less anaemic and there will be good oxygen supply to all the cells in the body.” Dr Leena Das, HOD, Path Laborotory at Fortis Hospital said, “Besides the increase in hemoglobin count, blood donors also help in saving lives. There is a massive shortage of blood and finding the right blood group is a major issue. A massive campaign needs to be launched.”