Pune facing acute blood shortage, blood donation camps get poor response
Hospitals and blood banks in the city have reported a shortage of blood, making it difficult to meet the rising demand for blood, officials said
Pune is grappling with an acute shortage of blood and platelets amid a surge in vector-borne and viral infections, not to mention blood donation camps getting a poor response.
Hospitals and blood banks in the city have reported a shortage of blood, making it difficult to meet the rising demand for blood, officials said. While the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) had issued statewide directions on September 16 to conduct blood donation camps from September 17 to October 1 to replenish the dwindling blood supplies, the response from donors has been poor with only 1,354 donors in Pune district donating blood over a period of 14 days.
Ram Bangad, founder of the NGO, Raktache Nate, informed that there is a shortage of platelets and blood in hospitals and blood banks such as Sahyadri, Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital, Sassoon General Hospital, Inlaks and Budhrani Hospital, and Aundh District Hospital among others.
Bangad said that the few blood donation camps that were organised received a poor response. “A large number of people are infected with vector-borne and influenza-like illnesses. Besides, the ongoing Pitru Paksha has affected blood donation camps. We have been urging people to donate, especially those who are eligible, but the response remains underwhelming,” he said.
Pune district has four government blood banks and 42 private blood banks. The majority of blood banks are facing an acute shortage of platelets, while the remaining blood banks are pulling on with whatever little stock they have. A normal person has a blood platelet count of 20,000 to 450,000 per microlitre of blood. About 80 to 90% of Dengue patients have a platelet count of below 100,000 while 10 to 20% of these patients report very low platelet levels of 20,000 or less. Such Dengue patients who develop complications such as bleeding, require platelet transfusions, said officials.
Mahendra Kendre, assistant director of the SBTC, said that orders were issued as per the directions of the central government and even the dates for the blood donation camps were decided by them. “Many blood donation camps were held in the state during the Ganpati festival due to which the response was lukewarm. Also, blood donation camps are voluntary and blood banks were asked to conduct the camps as per the requirement of blood in order to avoid wastage,” he said.
Dr Nisha Teli, who is in charge of the District Blood Bank, said that for the entire month, there has been a shortage of blood and platelets in the bank. “The demand is huge in comparison to the poor response from donors. There is an overall shortage of blood in blood banks across the city. We were able to conduct two blood donation camps on September 23 and 29. We have collected 118 blood bags during these blood donation camps,” she said.