Blood shortage hits patients hard

Awareness programmes planned today

Blood donors are being recognised with certificates in Srikakulam

Many operations in various hospitals are getting postponed due to lack of blood in the blood banks of Srikakulam district. Patients and their relatives are running from pillar to post to get the required quantity of blood and the situation is alarming for road accident victims as their need is immediate.

Private hospitals are allegedly charging up to ₹5,000 per unit on the pretext that it is being brought from neighbouring Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts. The normal rate is around ₹900 in the blood banks under the control of the government.

Summer phenomenon

The district needs around 4,000 units of blood per month but the availability is below 1,000 units. The blood banks in rural community health centres in places like Palasa, Tekkali and Rajam are reportedly unable to maintain even 50 units. The situation is no different in the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS-Srikakulam) and the blood bank of the Indian Red Cross society.

Blood shortage is a common phenomenon in summer as few donors come forward to donate during this time. Normally, college students donate blood occasionally, but they too won’t be available as educational institutions remain closed for vacation.

To address the problem, various institutions have planned to give wide publicity on the benefits of blood donation on the occasion of the World Blood Donors’ Day on June 14.

“We are concentrating on rural areas where people are normally healthy and fit to donate blood,” said Srikakulam Chairman P. Jaganmohana Rao.