What do we usually do when we see a Facebook post or a WhatsApp message which says there is a patient who is in need for certain units of Blood urgently? Most of us ignore it, delete it or some kind souls would forward the message to others (after all messaging is free these days). Most of us don’t even bother to spare a moment and think as to why the medical facilities are not able to supply blood to all those patients in need?
Isn’t a phenomena worth sparing a thought, with a humungous population like our nation, I don’t think so there should be shortage of blood supply. But on the contrary there is an increasing shortage of blood supply in our nation.
The frequency of Facebook posts that are made by my friends seeking help of fellow social media users in order to arrange for some units of blood , has definitely gone up in the past few months. Let’s have a look at the statistics published by various international development agencies which provide us with a clearer view of the current status of blood donation in India.
According to a WHO report published in the year 2012, only nine million units of blood is collected annually while there is a need of 12 million units of blood. As a matter of fact donated blood has a stipulated shelf life therefore; blood units need to be constantly replenished at blood banks. Also there is need for a database that is accessible by blood banks and registered members at a national level , so that getting people with a specific blood group becomes easier and faster.
Often villagers who travel to cities for availing medical facilities face the problem of arranging blood for their patients. Let’s take a situation; a pregnant woman is brought to a city hospital for a caesarean operation, she is anaemic and is in need of blood transfusion. The doctor tells the husband, who is a farmer by profession and an illiterate that his wife needs 5 units of blood of a specific blood group. To top it all, the blood bank at the hospital has not even a single unit of that blood group. What does the farmer do? Let his wife or baby or both die just because he hardly knows anyone in the city who can help him or because he has no idea what blood group means?
Yes my friends, that is the current situation of our nation and don’t now take an opportunity to abuse the government of our country. Rather ask yourself the question when was the last time you donated blood or helped a person in need of blood?
In an article published in the Times of India on June 16th 2014 our country which is home to almost 1.2 billion people faces the shortage of 3 million units of blood. In India, 80% of blood is collected through voluntary blood donation camps and it is estimated that if only 2% of Indians donated blood, the shortage can be easily solved. Another interesting fact to note about the demography of our country is that a large portion of the population consists of youngsters who can easily donate blood without any hassle.
Therefore, let us all today pledge to be a part of this much needed 2% so that no more mothers die while delivering their babies, no more victims of road accidents die due to excessive blood loss and no more blood cancer patients need to run from pillar to post in order to extend their life by one extra day.
In my own city Allahabad, a group run by the youth of the city called the Rotaract Club has started an initiative which has a target to create a database that will help people in need contact registered members living in the city they are present, so that no more patients die due to shortage of blood.
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