Donation of blood is the greatest donation one can make, District and Sessions Judge Shivashankar B. Amarannavar has said.
He was speaking after inaugurating a function to mark World Blood Donors Day. It was organised by the district administration and other organisations here on Tuesday.
The judge also donated his blood at a blood donation camp organised by the district unit of the State Government Employees Association.
Mr. Amarannavar said that people donate money, property and things. But, any one could do that. “Blood donation saves the lives of the people. Any healthy person in the 18-60 age group can donate blood. Those who donate blood could enjoy the added health benefits of low cholesterol and blood pressure. People could donate once in three months,” he said.
Presiding over the function, Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, said that most donations were made with ulterior motive of fame or other purpose. A true donation was one which was not made with any such motive.
“In the case of blood donation, we do not know to whose lives have been saved,” he said.
Manju, a government employee, who donated blood 69 times; Chidananda Pai, who donated his blood 67 times; Vinuta Kiran, who donated her blood 27 times, Anil Kumar and Udaykumar Shetty, who donated their blood 16 times; and Sudhanva Shetty and Sushanth Lawrence, both 18 years old were felicitated.
Mr. Pai said that he had been donating blood since he was 16. “I should have donated 120 times in the last 30 years. But I have donated only 67 times,” he said.
Ms. Vinuta Kiran said that women could donate their blood twice a year. “Donate your blood once, you will realise that it gives you immense satisfaction,” she said.
Nikin Shetty, district AIDS prevention officer, said that presently 90 lakh units of blood was being donated in the country, but the requirement was about 1.4 crore units. This reflected the need for blood.
Presently only one per cent of population was donating blood, this need to be doubled, he said.
Kumara, Additional Deputy Commissioner; Rohini, District Health and Family Welfare Officer; Mahendra, district surgeon; B. Rajeev Shetty, president of district unit of Indian Red Cross Society; and Subramanya Sherigar, president of the association, were present.
