KOCHI: According to World Health Organisation, one per cent of a country’s population should be donating blood to maintain an adequate blood supply. However, India, with a 1.38 billion population, is lagging by two million blood units. Instead of the required 13 million, the average blood collection in our country is 11 million. However, Kerala was able to collect 4.4 lakh blood units in 2019-2020.
Donation of blood and maintaining reserves is a constant and critical element in sustaining the healthcare system of any nation, especially during a pandemic due to the non-availability of eligible donors. The Covid pandemic saw up to a 30 per cent dip in blood donation in blood banks across Kerala.
Organisational issue
Blood shortage occurred primarily due to difficulty in organising outdoor blood donation camps, like all colleges and educational institutions remaining closed indefinitely. People were also reluctant to visit hospital-based blood banks due to the fear of contracting Covid. Also, voluntary blood donation declined with the increase in cases in the community.Blood banks are taking all safety precautions so that they can keep every blood donor safe. This includes frequently cleaning the maximum touch surfaces and providing adequate personal protective measures for staff.
Why donate?
The majority of blood donors prefer to donate to familiar patients. Despite social media campaigns, the number of voluntary blood donors are very few. All eligible donors must donate periodically to have all our blood banks filled with safe blood components. Haematology and oncology centres are always in need of platelet component which has shelf life of five days.
WHEN CAN YOU DONATE?
Blood donation can be done 28 days after recovering from Covid and 14 days after either dose of the vaccination. Since the interval between the first and second dose is now 84 days, there is ample time for blood donation in between the two doses.