‘Voluntary blood donations not enough’
LUCKNOW : Voluntary blood donation fills up only part of the units issued from blood banks and experts say this needs improvement to ensure all patients in need get blood or blood components.
“Out of about 70000 units we issue in a year, only 10000 units are against voluntary blood donation. The need is much more as patients of thalassemia and other such diseases might need frequent transfusion and not all patients have donors with them,” said Prof Tulika Chandra, HoD transfusion medicine at the KGMU and in charge of the state blood bank on the campus.
She said among those who voluntarily donated blood, young men lead the donors’ queue and men in all comprise 95% of the total donors. She also pointed towards the myths related to blood donation and said that all adult healthy persons can donate up to the age of 65 years.
“A big issue is with donation of platelet with apheresis where a single person’s blood is taken out (from one hand) and via a process platelets are extracted and then blood is transfused in the body (from the other hand). This is best method to get platelet as its count is high in comparison to platelet extracted from one unit of blood,” said Chandra.
SIMILAR CALL FROM PGI
On the eve of National Voluntary Blood Donation Day on October 1, doctors of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) have called upon masses to voluntarily donate blood to boost healthcare services and cut down reliance on professional donors who often transmit lethal diseases to recipients.
Professional donors are the ones who donate blood in lieu of money. Such donations, unethical and illegal, thrive due to dearth of voluntary donors, illiteracy and ignorance of those who need blood but refrain from donating. Such donors frequently donate blood to earn extra bucks and overlook heath concerns and often transmit diseases.
Professor RK Chaudhary of PGIs transfusion department said, “In PGI doctors undertake about 1,200 plateletpheresis (process of collecting platelets, a component of blood involved in blood clotting) procedures per year, but the patients’ kin face major problem due to limited availability of voluntary donors. This year the institute is focusing on making everyone aware about the need and importance of donating platelets.
This component is not only needed in patients of dengue but also in cases like aplastic anemia, critical care patients, patients undergoing stem cell transplant.”
AMONG THOSE WHO VOLUNTARILY DONATED BLOOD, YOUNG MEN LEAD THE DONORS’ QUEUE AND MEN IN ALL COMPRISE 95% OF THE TOTAL DONORS. ALL HEALTHY PERSONS CAN DONATE UP TO THE AGE OF 65 YEARS.