Tomorrow is World Blood Donor Day. Here’s how you can make a difference.
Around the world people are coming forward to donate blood that can be a gift of life. In Mumbai as well many places continue to ensure that blood banks are stocked, in an effort to save lives.
"The message on World Blood Donor Day should be to organise blood drives in the city around the year," says Vinay Shetty, Vice President of Think Foundation, a non-profit that organises drives and creates awareness and care for Thalessaemia patients. "We need 700 people to donate every day to make sure that there is enough blood in the banks," he says, "and people are willing donors, but there needs to be more convenient facilities for them to do so."
We continually work to create awareness, giving information about the process before setting up the drives, Vinay adds. Common belief is that people have reservations about donation, says Dr. Anand Deshpande, Consultant Transfusion Medicine & Hematology at Hinduja Hospital. "Many of them say that no one asked them to donate," he says. "We tell them it is safe to donate at a licensed bank and take away the fear that first-time donors may have. Once they do, they keep coming back to donate blood."
Creating awareness is a slow process, says Dr. Mukesh Gupta, Director at Dr Gupta's Nursing Home. "It's important to convince people that donating is safe by setting an example," he says.
"When people see that doctors donate blood and go about their routine work, they feel assured that it will not harm them, and it encourages them to donate blood as well," he explains. "Blood cannot be manufactured artificially, and so people must donate to ensure we have enough for patients," Mukesh adds. Donated blood is not just used as is, but is segregated into components like red blood cells, platelets and plasma to help multiple patients.
Some of the drives to mark this day include: Think Foundation's drive at the Cognizant ofice, Sion Hospital Blood Bank, Hinduja Hospital Blood Bank tomorrow, and across the city on July 1 organised by the Association of Medical Consultants.
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