Blood banks go dry in summer

AT ANY GIVEN TIME, THERE IS A 1520% SHORTFALL BETWEEN SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR BLOOD. THIS GAP WIDENS TO 2530% DURING SUMMERS

Along with rivers and water bodies, blood banks in India run dry each summer. May and June are particularly hard for patients because India’s blood banks depend primarily on voluntary blood donations from university students and young professionals, who are often away on vacation during summer months.

At any given time, there is a 15-20% shortfall between supply and demand for blood in India. This gap widens to a 25-30% shortfall during summers.

As against the requirement of about 10-11 million units of blood each year, the annual collection in India is 8.5-9 million units, most of which comes from voluntary blood donors.

“Voluntary donations account for around 80% of blood donations in India. My friend recently needed blood and even though I am part of one of India’s biggest blood banks, it took me 10 hours to arrange two units of blood for him,” said an official at the Indian Red Cross Society’s Blood Bank in New Delhi.

It takes a few minutes to donate blood, with each unit of blood donated being used to save at least three lives,” the official said.

There are 1,000 persons with thalassaemia registered with Red Cross Society of India, which issues 15,000-20,000 units of blood to them annually. People with thalassaemia need blood every 15 days for life. “We cater to not just Delhi’s thalassaemia population but also to people from Patna, Kanpur, Agra, Gwalior etc,” said the Red Cross official.

The WHO estimates that between 1-3% of a country’s population need blood in a year. About 65% of India’s population are young adults and even if half of them donate blood a couple of times a year, shortages will not happen.