CHENNAI: Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr VS Vijay inaugurated a blood donation camp at the Madras Medical College (MMC) on Tuesday morning to mark the World Blood Donors Day. This year, the theme is ‘more blood to save more lives’. More than 150 volunteers donated blood at the event organised by the Blood Donors Club, a registered voluntary blood donation organisation, and the Department of Blood Transfusion Medicine of the MMC.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, who is also an MMC alumni, appreciated the initiative and said that when doctors donate blood, students will also be motivated to donate blood and bust the myths surrounding blood donation.Pazha Karrupiah, MLA, who presided over the event, said that the government should take initiatives to subsidise the cost for the poor in government hospitals to make treatment more affordable.Joint Director of Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) and Professor, Department of Blood Transfusion Medicine, Dr Selvaraj, said that 99.5 per cent of the demand for blood for government hospitals is met by voluntary blood donations in the state, while the remaining supply is met through blood donations from the patient’s relatives and friends.Emphasising the rapid advancement in blood processing technology, Selvaraj said that segregation of the blood into individual components — red blood cells, platelets, plasma or anti haemophillic factors — helps in the treatment of cancer patients, heart patients and the anaemic. Hence, each unit of blood can be used to treat at least four patients.Moreover, the government hospitals’ easy access to donor data helps them handle emergency cases effectively. “There are two mobile vans in Chennai and Madurai that travel to 16 districts each to register blood donors in each district,” he added.One of the vans is computerised and is equipped with technology to send automatic SMS updates to donors in the assembled database to remind them to donate blood for upcoming blood donation drives. But the demand for blood donations rise during the summer when students, who form a major part of the donor community, are generally on vacation and unavailable. Hence very few camps are conducted during summer, so the blood donation drive is stepped up at other times to ensure that there is no shortage of blood, he said. On initiatives to cut down maternal mortality due to blood loss, he said that there are at present 134 blood storage facilities in upgraded Primary Health Care (PHC) centres to tackle the issue. TANSACS is now aiming at up scaling it to 231 blood storage facilities, he added. The student community plays an active role in facilitating the smooth functioning of the blood camps.M Kamaraj, Student, President, Blood Donors Club, said that 1,426 volunteers have organised 75 blood donation camps to collect blood to be used in emergency cases. KC Sindu, a student volunteer who donated blood, said, “I’m happy to save lives by donating blood and not just preach about it to others.” The Blood Donors Club, which comprises medical students and faculty associated with the Government General Hospital and MMC was formed in 2009. So far, they have donated 607 units of blood.
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