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Voluntary blood donation on the rise in Puducherry

PUDUCHERRY: Though Puducherry has seen a considerable rise in the number of people making voluntary blood donation, it is yet to achieve the target set by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) in blood collection from individuals and charitable organisations, according to Dr. Gilbert Fernandez, Project Director, Pondicherry AIDS Control Society.

NACO, the agency that monitors the functioning of blood banks across the country, had set a target of 80 per cent of voluntary blood collection, he said at a function to honour individuals and organisations for blood donation during the period from October 2006 to September 2007 here on Wednesday.

Three years ago only 50 per cent of the blood collected in “banks’ in the five nominated centres at government hospitals and the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research was voluntary. A massive awareness campaign conducted saw more people donating blood voluntarily, and the percentage now stood at around 65 per cent, though the target set for 2007 was 80 per cent.

The agency had estimated the need of 17,000 units of blood for the treatment of patients, including blood transfusion at the time of surgery, in the Union Territory annually. Of this 8,000 units were collected voluntarily in blood banks and the remaining requirement was being met through donations made by the relatives of patients, he said.

The Pondicherry AIDS Control Organisation would organise a massive awareness campaign in the coming months to increase the percent of voluntary blood donation, he said.

T. M. Balakrishnan, Secretary to Government of Puducherry, Health, gave away awards to various political organisations, welfare organisations, educational institutions, business organisations and individuals for donating the maximum blood in the last 12 months.

Director of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Dilip Kumar Baliga, Medical Superintendent of General Hospital Dr. V. Govindaraj, and Dr N. Mani, Head of the Department, Pathology and Blood Bank in GH, spoke on the occasion.

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