This family is different from any other middle-class household in the Capital. Leaving aside the two children, five of the family members have been regular blood donors for the past several years.
Daughter-in-law Bharti Sharma, who works as patient coordinator and date manager, Bone Marrow Transplant Department, BLK Super Specialty Hospital, is behind this initiative.
“I not only encourage my family to donate blood, but also motivate other volunteers,” she said.
Ms. Bharti claims she has been donating blood regularly for the past six years. Her father-in-law, mother-in-law and brother-in-law too have been following in her footsteps for the last seven to eight years. However, her father-in-law, an asthma patient, has stopped donating recently.
Residents of Ashok Vihar, the family claims it has already started training and encouraging the children so that they keep up this tradition. As to how they started donating blood regularly, Ms. Bharti says, “Many years ago, my husband was not keeping well and his haemoglobin dropped below normal suddenly. He was in dire need of blood. Relatives and friends came forward to help him. We then decided to regularly donate blood and help those who were in need.”
Meanwhile, the National AIDS Control Organisation has launched a database of blood banks on the national health portal. The National Blood Transfusion Council has made a directory available - of all the 2,760 licensed blood banks - on the portal.
As a starting point, the data of all the 76 blood banks in Delhi/NCR and 524 blood banks across the country has been made available. The process of uploading data of the remaining licensed blood banks in the country is under way.
