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Need to increase voluntary blood donation

PUDUCHERRY: Voluntary blood donation was around 45 to 48 per cent in Puducherry, while the national target was 80 per cent. There was a need to increase voluntary blood donation, according to Project Director of Pondicherry AIDS Control Society (PACS), Gilbert Fernandez.

Honouring blood donors on Tuesday at the inauguration of a workshop on “Strategies for donor recruitment and donor retention,” he said measures to increase voluntary blood donation to 80 per cent should be taken. Awards were presented to 15 voluntary blood donors.

The Union Territory required around 15,000 to 16,000 units of blood every year. It received nearly 20,000 units of blood through replacement donors and voluntary donors, he said.

“From 2001 onwards, the voluntary blood donation levels in Puducherry have started to increase from 45 per cent to 48 per cent. Presently, it is around 55 per cent. Replacement donors should not be encouraged, and for this we need to motivate more and more voluntary blood donors,” he emphasised.

Medical Superintendent of Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and Post Graduate Institute (IGGGH and PGI) V. Govindaraj said awareness on voluntary blood donation should reach the public.

The workshop was organised by the PACS, the Pondicherry Council of Blood Transfusion and the Blood Bank of the IGGGH and PGI. Among others, Member of the Legislative Assembly R. Viswanathan was present.

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