Blood Donation Woes

There is an estimated need of about 4 crore units of blood in our country. And 5 lakh units is the amount of blood actually available. That is one huge gap between demand and supply. Sadly, even though it’s a gap that can be easily reduced, if not eliminated, nothing seems to be done to address this issue. Every second there is someone in need of blood or blood components. But unfortunately, not all of them get the required amount, and sometimes they end up paying with their lives. Death of a loved one is always traumatic for the family & friends. But it would be exacerbated when the death was avoidable.

Makes me wonder about a lot of things. First of all, why is there such a huge gap in the first place? I’d say it’s simply because of the lack of awareness. When you stop to think about this issue for a minute, it should strike you that blood is something we all have and is something almost all of us can afford to donate. Any healthy adult male or female, between the ages of 18 & 55 can donate blood. So where’s the problem? Well, if the public was made aware of this, I’m sure we would have a lot more voluntary blood donors stepping up. I mean, all of us can do it. It’s not like we have to give up all of our life blood or anything. Men can donate once in 3 months and women once in 4 months. Anyone who satisfies a set of health related conditions and criterion can be a blood donor. Blood can be separated into its components and stored for a long period. Even individual blood components are useful. It truly is a simple deed, but it is a deed that makes us feel like a hero. And we could very well be one, for all we know, we could be saving someone’s life. Plus there's a bonus... Recent studies show that blood donation is good for the donor too.

The Austrlian Red Cross concurs:

Some studies have shown that regular blood donation can help prevent the build-up of iron in the body over time, reducing the strain this places on major organs including the heart. The benefits are thought to be most pronounced in middle-aged men and amongst people prone to haemachromotosis. We also think that regular acts of kindness, like giving blood, are good for anyone’s heart.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

Now,I guess the first step to tackle this problem would be to increase the awareness of the people. I mean people are totally oblivious to this issue and to the fact that they can help out. Those that are aware of this issue are generally wary. They worry about their safety and health. But then there are yet others who know about this and want to help, but who have no idea about how to proceed (I fall into this category). This makes me wonder some more. Why isn’t the government promoting blood donation? Why aren’t celebs out there in front of the cameras, and in our faces, making it fashionable? Why aren’t blood banks and other ngo-like organizations campaigning for it?

Unless people are educated about it and told that it is perfectly safe and perfectly pain-free (unless you’re scared of needles), nobody is give a damn about someone somewhere dying on the operating table (unless, god forbid, you’ve lost someone that way). People should be informed about the blood banks in their locality, the blood camps that are conducted and the procedures involved. I think (interesting & motivational) seminars or talks should be given in schools and colleges. There should be more blood camps conducted in schools, colleges, offices and wherever possible and wherever there are willing people. This would be extremely convenient for the donors as they wouldn’t have to go through the hassle of finding someplace to donate blood. Also, there definitely should be an easy way to register as blood donors. Each locality should have some sort of register of blood donors and their blood groups. The most important thing to be understood here is that all blood banks survive only on the voluntary nature of blood donation. No one can be forced to donate blood. Blood donors are blood donors because of their altruistic nature. Professional blood donation (where someone provides blood in return for payment; the word donation pretty much loses its meaning here) is illegal. But this practice still thrives due to the shortage in blood banks. Relatives of patients often have no choice when they’re faced with the dilemma that the replacement policy most hospitals across the country follow.

When I tried to get some information online,about blood banks and registered donors in Kerala, I found…nothing. There is a government site about the number of blood banks and technicians and equipments and stuff. But no register or site where would be donors can register. I think having an online directory would be great. Especially considering the fact that such sites are quite successful in other states. Karnataka has some pretty neat sites. For example, Bangalore has a site managed by an organization called Sankalp. It has a helpline and the works. Why don’t we have anything like that? I seriously think it’s time we have a centralized system in place to check and manage the working of all blood banks. Blood banks in a locality should work in tandem with each other. People should have easy access to them via help lines and stuff.

Tragically, all blood banks face shortage of blood. Yes. All of them. They are not always able to meet the requests coming in, which usually ends up causing a fatality. It’s high time something is done about this.