Kolkata, June 12 (IANS) With the aim to increase blood donation in the country, the Union government has directed all its its Ministries/departments and their subordinate/attached offices/autonomous bodies to observe the World Blood Donor Day on June 14.

The theme for this year is: “One Drop of Humanity, Give Blood, Save Lives”.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in an order dated May 22, has directed the offices to organise “suitable programmes” that may include “awareness activities, voluntary blood donation camps, and other outreach efforts”.

Ministries have also been urged to disseminate the campaign message through social, print and electronic media to promote “community engagement and participation”.

According to government data, India requires 14.6 million units of blood annually, as per a 2018 study by the National Blood Transfusion Council.

Experts say that the study was conducted based on a projected population estimate of 1.31 billion in 2017.

The estimated population in 2025 is 1.46 billion and the requirement of blood has gone up accordingly.

espite voluntary donations and contributions from family members and relatives of patients, a shortage of blood exists.

It is estimated that nearly 12,000 patients die every day in different parts of the country in multiple scenarios due to lack of access to safe blood on time.

There is a shortage of blood due to lack of awareness, myths around blood donation, fear associated with it and infrequent camps.

“A single unit of blood, if broken down into red cells, plasma and platelets, can save the lives of three people,” experts said.

These could be a cancer patient, someone suffering from trauma after an accident and a baby.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that one per cent of a country’s population donate blood to meet minimum needs.

This means that there should be at least 14 million donors in India.

However, the number of registered blood donors in the country is 8.9 million.

No wonder, there is a shortfall of about one million units per year.

The Union government hopes for things to improve through its campaigns on the World Blood Donor Day.

–IANS

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