World Blood Donor Day: Indian blood banks struggle with dismal facilities

The slogan for the World Blood Donor Day this year, celebrated on June 14, is: “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often.”

Experts have called for better facilities across India to ensure universal access to safe blood on World Blood Donor Day this year. Most of the almost 4,000 blood banks in India do not have the latest technology and it has become a major challenge to ensure that safe blood is made available for patients, said Dr Sandeep Sewlikar, head of medical and scientific affairs at Roche Diagnostics India.

About 66 percent of the blood banks in India were in the low- and medium-performance categories, according to a study published in the Indian Journal of Hematology and Blood Transfusion in 2021. These blood banks reported administrative and technical gaps, including adherence to quality management systems and practices.

Licensed blood banks need to fulfil the minimum requirements as required by the regulator, the National Blood Transfusion Council.

There is insufficient safe blood supply in India currently, said Sewlikar. India had the largest unmet blood unit need in the world in 2017, according to a study published in The Lancet. At the time of the study, demand trumped supply by about 400 percent.

Emphasis on donation

Public health is a state subject and it is the responsibility of the state and Union Territory governments to ensure the establishment of blood banks as needed, Bharati Pravin Pawar, minister of state for health and family welfare, said in response to a question in parliament in February.

The slogan for the World Blood Donor Day this year, celebrated on June 14, is: “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often.”

An important aspect of blood donation is to ensure that recipients receive safe blood, which is free of infections such as HIV, hepatitis, or syphilis.

Some people are hesitant to donate blood because of a fear of infection. During the HIV/AIDS scare, people apprehended that they would contract the virus by donating blood.

However, blood donation camps use disposable sterile products to ensure the safety of the donor today, said Dr Narinder Naidu, medical director of the Indian Red Cross Society in Mumbai. Through education and community engagement, voluntary blood donation has improved over the years, said Naidu.

Blood donation is important to combat diseases including sickle cell disease, hemophilia, and thalassemia, and in many surgical and OB-GYN procedures.

Models such as centralised NAT (Nucleic Acid Testing) adopted in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh must be implemented elsewhere to ensure access to safe blood with cost effectiveness, Sewlikar added.

NAT screens blood donations to reduce the risk of infections from transmission in recipients.

The World Health Organization’s theme for World Blood Donor Day this year aims to thank individuals who have given blood and encourage more people to take up blood donation.