India 35 tanker-trucks short of blood...

NEW DELHI: India is 35 tanker-trucks short of the blood it requires for medical procedures, yet some areas of the nation wasted blood because there was too much

NEW DELHI: India is 35 tanker-trucks short of the blood it requires for medical procedures, yet some areas of the nation wasted blood because there was too much of it, according to an analysis of government data.

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The shortage was estimated at 1.1 million units — as blood is measured, with a unit being either 350 ml or 450 ml — in 2015-16, minister JP Nadda said in July 2016. The data was converted into tankers, assuming a standard tanker-truck of 11,000 lt and a 350 ml unit. India has 2,708 blood banks, but 81 districts still lack one. Rural areas find blood supplies harder to access. Shortages may be due to the fact that there is no central collection agency. Some areas may collect too much blood at the same time, instead of doing it at a constant run.

“This leads to two issues,” said Zarin Bharucha of the Federation of Bombay Blood Banks. “...that area is likely to experience a shortage of donations in the future... If everyone donates at the same time, they won’t show up for a while. Second, you might have so much blood that you won’t need it. So, a part of it will be wasted.”