Bihar: IAS Officers Association comes forward to help Thalassemia patients

A mega blood donation camp will be held on Monday by the IAS Officers Association and IFS Officers Association with the Vaishno Devi Seva Samiti in Patna for those who need safe blood, especially the Thalassemia patients

A mega blood donation camp will be held on Monday by the IAS Officers Association and IFS Officers Association with the Vaishno Devi Seva Samiti in Patna for those who need safe blood, especially the Thalassemia patients.

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Currently, the state has nearly 4,000 Thalassemia patients. To cater to their requirements, chief minister Nitish Kumar had launched Child Thalassemia Centre at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in the state capital on Blood Donors Day on June 14, 2020.

“Thalassemia is a physical problem in which fresh blood needs to be transfused in the body of the patient after every 15 to 20 days. So the need for a regular supply of blood is always there. Blood donation and donors are always in demand to keep the lives of Thalassemia patients safe,” Deepak Kumar Singh, IAS Officers’ Association secretary, said.

To encourage the donors and to make the blood donation camp memorable, the department of forests, environment and climate change has decided to offer each of them a memento, certificate and an indoor plant, he added.

Mukesh Hissarya, convener of the Vaishno Devi Samiti, working for Thalassemia patients and running a nationwide network of blood donors, said that this blood donors camp is the most needed thing due to a severe crisis of donors during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.

“The pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have aggravated the need of donors. Despite having donors’ card, many have not been able to donate blood for one or other reasons, while the need for Thalassemia patients is still not catered. They need it regularly,” he said.

Last year things were worse. Even those having blood donor’s cards were not allowed to go out, he added. “Then we requested the government to allow donors to go to blood banks. This time, during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, though the donors were allowed to go out for donations, the response has not been very encouraging. That is why there’s been the need for a blood donation camp,” he said.

The activist said that the state has nearly 4,000 Thalassemia patients. “Though it’s not an official figure because there has been no such survey, we can claim on basis of our experiences. Not less than 4,000 families must have contacted us for help in the last three-four years,” he said.

At present, the Child Thalassemia Centre in Patna has 350 registered Thalassemia patients, and they are availing the facility of blood transfusion here.

“Chief minister launched had launched this Centre on Blood Donor Day in 2020, and since then it has made blood available to 1,700 Thalassemia patients in the state,” he said. Bihar chief secretary Tripurari Sharan, development commissioner Aamir Subhani and principal chief conservator of forests AN Sharan will attend the camp, besides other VIPs.

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