With most colleges being closed for summer vacation and majority of donors going out of station, blood banks across the city are now facing an acute shortage of blood.
If lack of volunteers is one part of the challenge, what appears to be even more difficult task is convincing the family members of the patient to donate blood. “Despite the fact that the awareness level among people has considerably gone up over the years, close family members are averse to contributing and cite lame reasons. The situation is not any better among educated ones either. We have come across cases where a husband refuses to donate blood for his wife on the pretext that it would hit his stamina,” explains M. Lakshmi, Medical Officer of Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS).
With a rise in the number of surgery, delivery, and accidents cases, blood bank at King George Hospital is facing acute shortage. The main reason for the shortage in supply is that the banks are not able to strike a balance between those who require blood transfusions every three weeks, like thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia patients, and increased surgery cases that crop up in summer.
Doctors at blood banks say that they would heave a sigh of relief even if one per cent of the population steps forward to contribute to the noble cause. To deal with the crisis, blood banks are keeping a track of volunteers list, organising blood donation camps and medical camps including the employees of various establishments and corporate houses. “As an alternative measure, we are now shifting our focus on corporate sectors and NGOs and motivate them to donate blood. This perhaps will help in filling the gap as most educational institutions will remain closed for the next couple of months,” says M.A. Hameed Khan, chairman of Rotary Blood Bank.
