Indian Red Cross helpdesk to come up at Wenlock Hospital

It has planned to hold a blood donation camp for women

The former Additional Deputy Commissioner and honorary secretary of Indian Red Cross Society, Dakshina Kannada unit, S.A. Prabhakar Sharma (second from left) speaking at an interaction programme in Mangaluru on Wednesday.

The Indian Red Cross’ Dakshina Kannada unit will start a Red Cross helpdesk at the Government Wenlock Hospital on February 11. It has also planned to hold an exclusive blood donation camp for women.

These are among the activities planned by the district unit for the centenary year of the Indian Red Cross, said honorary secretary S.A. Prabhakar Sharma and Chairman Shantaram Shetty here on Wednesday.

In a Meet-the-Press held at the Press Club, Mr. Sharma said that the idea of starting the helpdesk was mooted by Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B. Rupesh, who is also the president of the district unit of Indian Red Cross Society.

Hospital’s Superintendent H. Rajeshwaridevi had also said that the two staff manning the hospital’s helpdesk found it difficult to handle queries from a large number of people coming to the hospital.

Mr. Sharma said that the Red Cross helpdesk will be run by about 50 volunteers from the Senior Citizens Association and Milagres Church. These volunteers will guide visitors in availing of facilities at the hospital. “We are training volunteers on February 7. They will start work on February 11,” he said. These volunteers will sport Indian Red Cross jacket, he added.

Mr. Shantaram Shetty said that they have planned to hold a women’s blood donation camp to remove inhibition among women about blood donation. “We will do this in association with 15 other bloods banks,” Mr. Shetty said. As women are prone to be anaemic, Mr. Shetty said, only those who have the required haemoglobin level and weight will be allowed to donate. “We expect around 2,000 women to take part in the event proposed on the International Women’s Day,” he said.

The district unit, he said, was operating from a small premises located behind the office of the Deputy Commissioner. The district administration has sanctioned 25 cents of land for construction of a new building. “We will take up construction in the next few days after getting mandatory clearances,” he said.

The generic medicine store of the district unit in Padavinangady, which started in October last, was doing well. Its health clinic operated, in association with New Mangalore Port Trust, was helping unorganised workers and local residents in Panambur, he said.