World Blood Donor Day: India Needs Better Network To Avoid Blood Wastage

On World Blood Donor Day, in India, health experts emphasized the need to highlight the shortcomings and improve the infrastructure and network of blood banks across India. It is also estimated that nearly 12,000 individuals die in India each day due to the non-availability of quality blood. While this is one side of the coin, the other side indicates that India wastes about 6.5 lakh units of blood and blood components each year due to lack of proper storage facilities.

Many doctors are raising their voices on the urgent need to address this major societal concern.

Women suffering from bleeding during pregnancy or at childbirth, women and children suffering from anemia due to malnutrition, trauma victims, etc., all need blood or/and blood-related products like plasma or platelets.

Blood Donation in India

"Each day, India needs large quantities of blood to treat many patients undergoing surgery or getting treatment for various forms of cancers. While there is a shortage of quality blood in the country, large quantities of it get wasted when it cannot be transfused to a patient within the right time and in the right means. Key factors leading to donated blood wastage are lack of proper storage facilities, leakages, contamination, testing delays due to manpower issues, etc. All these problems can be addressed and must be resolved to ensure we emerge into a healthy India," said Dr. Pradeep Panigrahi, Medical Director, SLG Hospitals.

"Some reports suggest that India does not have a single well-managed blood bank in at least 63 districts as of September 2020. This lack of blood banks facility also adds to the healthcare delivery burden, resulting in the loss of lives in emergencies like trauma/accidents. Many individual hospitals are striving hard to ensure a proper supply of quality blood to those in need. Still, the network of blood banks must grow in numbers to ensure we address this concern," observes Dr. Satwinder Singh Sabharwal, COO, Aware Gleneagles Global Hospital.

Dr. Kishore B. Reddy, Managing Director, Amor Hospitals, highlighted the need for a policy: "State and Union Governments have enhanced allocations to the healthcare sector in their annual budgets and are striving hard to improve the last-mile delivery of quality healthcare services." He believes the state and the union governments should create a policy that will ensure the creation of more blood banks, even in remote parts of the country. He also said that this will ensure the supply of safe blood and blood transfusion-related risks are addressed well.

"While many kind-hearted Samaritans step forward to donate their blood regularly, there is a need to enhance awareness on blood donation, which is a healthy practice. There is always a dearth of rare blood groups like AB negative, A negative, B negative, AB positive, and Bombay blood group; and there should be a special focus on ensuring people with these rare groups consider donating their blood regularly, concluded Dr. Sailesh Singhi, Senior Hematologist and Blood bank in charge, Century Hospital.

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Source-IANS