Health Minister V S Sivakumar on Friday said that the state aimed at making voluntary blood donation hundred per cent in three years and, as such, the youth had to come forward.
Stressing that there was a need for more voluntary blood donors, he said that the demand for blood had increased now.
He was speaking at the state-level inauguration of the World Blood Donors Day observance at the All Saints College here.
‘’When there is a need for four lakh units of blood in the state per year, only three lakh units is received through voluntary donation. There is a need for encouraging blood donation among the youth,’’ the Minister said.
Sivakumar said ‘Club 25’ has been formed in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kozhikode districts for promoting blood donation and healthy lifestyle. The aim of the Club is to promote the motto of 25 blood donations by the age of 25, the Minister said.
He said that the AIDS Control Society had been asked to submit a proposal with regard to Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) facility, which could ensure greater safety during blood transfusion. NAT will bring down the window period during which diseases such as HIV remain undetected in the blood, he said.
Some of the leading blood donors of the state were also felicitated at the function. T N Kurien of Alappuzha (78 donations), Salim Kutty of Idukki and Abdul Azeez of Malappuram (60 times), Shajudeen and Jayakumar from Thiruvananthapuram (50 times), Ratheesh Kumar of Kasargod (44 times) and Noushad Bakel of Kannur (36 times) were among the donors who were felicitated at the function.
As part of the World Blood Donors Day, actor Suresh Gopi was among the leading persons who donated blood. Forty students of the All Saints’ College also donated blood.
Mayor K Chandrika, State AIDS Control Society project director K Shailaja among others were present.