The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Plea for steady supply of blood

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 15, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Plea for steady supply of blood

Staff Reporter

World Blood Donor Day observed on June 14

State has voluntary donor participation rate of 83%
Network must achieve higher donor participation

CHENNAI: The one worry related to blood bank services in the city has less to do with poor donor motivation or deficit in supply and more to do with lack of uniform availability of the live-saving fluid. In fact, Tamil Nadu has a voluntary donor participation rate of 83 per cent, second only to West Bengal’s 86 per cent.

In a peculiar situation, though the supply matches or sometimes exceeds the demand, patients in dire need will still find it vexing to access a specific blood group.

Experts say this is because the stock status in blood banks is linked to one-day collection campaigns organised mainly by youth organisations and NGOs and even political outfits commemorating a leader. A spate of blood donation camps can often result in excess stocks.

It is important to streamline collection campaigns to make blood uniformly available throughout the year, says K.M. Radhakrishnan, Special Officer, Department of Transfusion Medicine, Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University.

The department has launched a survey to get a realistic picture of the supply-demand position in the blood bank network in the city.

Experts recommend scheduling collection events across the year to bring in a uniform supply of donor blood in tune with needs and ensure availability throughout the year.

Supriya Sahu, member-secretary and project director of the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society, said the network should be geared to achieving higher donor participation levels, perhaps in the 95-98 per cent range, to ensure blood safety. “Voluntary blood donation is among the best guarantees against HIV infection.” It is estimated that 0.6 per cent of HIV infections occur through transfusions.

Honouring donors

Meanwhile, at the Red Cross Society, it was time to honour the heroes — the blood donors.

About 50 per cent of blood donated comes through activities of Youth Red Cross (YRC), said Sarojini Varadappan, president of Indian Red Cross Society, Tamil Nadu Branch.

S. V. Chittibabu, vice-president, urged more people to join the ‘Save-a-Life’ scheme: a one-time donation of Rs. 2,000 would provide one unit of blood free of cost every year for the lifetime of an ailing person. Dr. Radhakrishnan presented awards to the best YRC coordinators, district organisers, programme officers and volunteers. Youth clubs, corporate firms and colleges, which organised blood donation camps last year, were given awards. Women’s Christian College, New College, and Jerusalem College of Engineering were among them. Individuals who had donated blood 10 or more times at the Red Cross blood bank were honoured.

Apollo Hospitals joined the global observance on the WHO theme ‘Safe Blood for Safe Motherhood’ with a call to encourage young, motivated and voluntary donors. Revathy Raj, paediatric hemato-oncologist, underscored the importance of ensuring safety of blood given to the mother and child during delivery.

The Department of Transfusion Medicine at Apollo Hospitals receives 14,000 blood donors a year: altruistic, voluntary donors comprise 80 per cent of them. A recent trend is the growth in the number of donors from the corporate sector.

World Blood Donor Day was observed on June 14 to mark the birth anniversary of Karl Landsteiner, who discovered blood groups.

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