A blood donation awareness rally was taken out by the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TNSACS) and District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit (DAPCU) along with Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) here on Friday to mark World Blood Donor Day.
Students from the CMCH Nursing School, Sri Abirami College of Nursing, JK College and Paramedical, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Paramedical Sciences and KG College of Nursing participated in the rally.
District Collector K. Rajamani flagged off the rally from the Collectorate. The students carried placards with slogans stressing on the importance of blood donation.
On reaching the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, the students and professors took a pledge to create awareness on blood donation to their family, friends and the public.
T. Sadagopan, Deputy Medical Superintendent, CMCH, presented certificates to honour the frequent blood donors from Coimbatore and Pollachi. He said that while it was charitable for people to donate blood, it was equally important to take care of their own health. “I would suggest people above 40 years of age to take a bone marrow index test to check the optimum level of blood in your body. I stress on this because excessive donation can be detrimental to your bones,” he said.
C. Deepika, a blood donor, said she had been donating blood for the past one-and-a-half years. “I worked in a blood bank and I got interested in donating. Despite my mother’s worries, I continue do it because I know the value of donating blood,” she said.
