Dos, don’ts of donating the precious liquid

By Chethan Manchegowda

We may have successfully handled Covid-19 over the last three years, but a much bigger challenge is now staring the country in the face. India is up against the worst blood shortages she has seen in over a decade.

Vaccines may be battling Covid-19 and booster doses combating different variants of the pandemic with increasing success, we still need to accept the fact that no vaccine or substance can replace or produce blood, the most essential thing for life to sustain.

Patients with chronic conditions (such as thalassemia, haemophilia, blood cancer etc), those facing critical emergencies and other ailments need blood donors for transfusions even in the dominating Covid-19 waves.

Am I an eligible donor?

You can donate every three months if you(r):

• are a healthy adult between 18 and 65 years of age
• weigh 45 kg or above
• haemoglobin level is 12.5 g/dL or more
• waited for one year after having a piercing and/ or tattooing
• are not menstruating, pregnant, breastfeeding during donation or have had a miscarriage in the past six months
• pulse rate is in the healthy range of 50-100.

Note: If you are unsure, you have nothing to worry about! For before you donate, you undergo a free check-up to ensure that you can safely donate blood.

Blood donation post vaccination

You can donate blood after 14 days of being vaccinated. Blood donation post vaccination does not reduce the vaccination benefits and is safe and healthy.

Problems faced by patients due to lack of blood donation Patients requiring blood transfusions are having a tough time finding blood units or blood donors in the city.

Blood banks are running low on stocks with increased demand for blood. Consequent high cost is making arranging blood for their loved ones on time an arduous task for patient families.

The way forward is to overcome our hesitation and donate liberally. Making just one donation could prevent at least three families the suffering of the loss of a beloved member.

Donated blood is further tested for transfusion transmitted infections by blood banks to ensure it is safe to be transfused to patients. Governmentapproved price for a single unit of red blood cells is Rs 1,450 (ELISA tested), whereas the same unit if NAT costs between Rs 1,800 and 2,500.

I believe, as we call upon people to come forward and donate blood voluntarily, blood banks also should upgrade their testing procedures.

(Chethan Manchegowda is the Founder of Khoon.org)