Gurgaon-based Sanjeeta Dutta’s haemoglobin levels fell dangerously low to 4, during her delivery in 2011. A blood transfusion was required at the earliest. Her husband contacted Rotary Blood Bank in Delhi and arranged for AB+ blood group. “I understand the importance of blood donation very well, as that blood donated by someone saved my life that day,” says Dutta, who regrets not being able to donate blood owing to her high cholesterol and BP.
India, a country of over 1.45 billion people, requires over 13 million units of blood annually but consistently falls short by 1 million. Thousands of patients with conditions like thalassemia, hemophilia, and cancer, and those undergoing surgeries or suffering trauma, rely on timely, voluntary blood donations for survival. A single unit of blood donation serves three purposes: whole blood transfusion, plasma transfusion, and platelet transfusion, which make blood donation even more significant.
What stops people from blood donating?
The landscape of blood donation is fraught with challenges like myths surrounding blood donation in rural areas, low awareness, lack of storage facilities and other logistics.
Khoon, a Bangalore-based NGO, has been working towards reducing the blood scarcity in the country for a decade. Until Covid-19, Khoon was regularly organising blood donation camps but now works directly with blood banks and organises camps as per requirements raised by them. While the blood bank pitches in with its staff and equipment, Khoon activates its network by reaching out to registered donors in its database. It has about 1.5 lakh registered donors.
“The real problem is not low awareness or unwillingness to donate blood. As compared to before, many more people come forward to donate blood. Logistical challenges like ensuring equitable access to blood irrespective of location, city and state are real hindrances,” says Chethan Manchegowda, founder of Khoon. Manchegowda began Khoon when he lost his beloved teacher to the unavailability of blood. He was only 15 then.
He reveals that while O+ blood group is the easiest to find, the Bombay blood group is rare. Manchegowda says men can donate blood every three months, women need to maintain a gap of 4 months. “It’s important to note that even though we have a large database of registered people, not all convert to donations. It’s not because people don’t want to donate. It’s because of the time gap from the time they registered to the time of need or donation. Also how do you keep your donors engaged for three months,” observes Manchegowda. Besides Bangalore, Khoon is active in Guwahati.
He underlines a term called pseudo shortage of blood, meaning the blood is available but not accessible at the right place at the right time. “There is blood mismanagement and utilisation. We need a centralised blood ecosystem,” he explains. Khoon is now working on a tool that will connect donors and recipients.
Government initiative and loopholes
E-RaktKosh, set up by the Union Government in 2016, is a remarkable initiative to streamline and digitise the blood donation and distribution process across the country. It connects blood donors, blood banks, hospitals, and patients and enables real-time tracking of blood availability. “It is an incredible initiative but has not been implemented very seriously,” Manchegowda points out.
In a country where 97% collection comes from blood donation camps, they should be facilitated without hiccups. “In tier-2 and 3 cities, it’s difficult to organise camps as there are a few big schools, colleges and hospitals. We are dependent on political personalities and rallies,” clarifies Manchegowda. Also, myths play a big role in reluctance to donate. “In North Karnataka, blood donation is not supposed to be good. Some people feel that after getting a tattoo, they can never donate blood which is not true. After your cooling off period, you can donate blood. People with negative blood groups like A-, O-, AB- feel they shouldn’t donate blood and save it for emergencies,” shares the young health activist who has a master’s in development practice.
According to reports, there are 3840 licensed blood banks (blood centers) in the country. It’s not easy to obtain a license and there are strict SOPs for blood banks.
Journey of hope
Sankalp Blood Bank in Bangalore, managed by Sankalp India Foundation, an NGO that works for thalassemia patients in the country, organises 300 blood donation camps in a year. “Till now we have done 2000 transfusions. We have day care centres in different locations in Karnataka and post-collection, we send blood to these centres. Every day we need about 100 units of blood. We also have tie-ups with other blood banks and give them blood,” informs Narsimha Shastry of Sankalpa Blood Camp. He says the blood bank can store up to 2000 units of blood.
Utthishta Bharata, an organisation that works towards several causes to contribute to nation building collaborates with several blood banks, including Sankalp Blood bank in organising blood donation camps. “People understand the importance of blood donation and 50% of our donors are repeat donors. When we started in 2017, around 8-10 people would walk in to donate blood. But now over 50 people appear in each camp. People turned up even during Covid to donate blood at our camps,” says Neeraj Kamath. They have collected 600+ units till now.
To keep donors informed and engaged, the organisation puts together events for donors. “Since we work closely for the cause of thalassemia, we get donors to spend a day with thalassemia kids. They know how and where their donation is going. Maintaining continuity also helps,” says Kamath. We can’t emphasise how critical blood donation is. Every few seconds, a woman facing complications during childbirth, a child battling cancer, a victim of a road accident, or a patient undergoing major surgery, needs blood in our country. Every unit of blood donated covers that critical distance between death and life. Along with blood donation, there is also the need to streamline and plug the loopholes that hinder equitable and smooth distribution of this lifeline.
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