Donating blood is considered a noble act, as it saves life in emergency. Besides, it also benefits the donor in terms of health. On this Voluntary Blood Donation Day that is observed across India on October 1 every year, doctors, blood banks and NGO’s have urged people to debunk the myths related to blood donation and work for the cause.
Dr Praveen Sobti, professor, paediatrics, CMCH and coordinator for Thalassaemia International Federation for Punjab, said, “There is no doubt that people are coming forward in large numbers to donate blood, but still that’s not sufficient in terms of demand. Thalassaemic children are increasing each year, but supply is not that fast. Those, who could donate blood, don’t step forward. They need to debunk the myths and should understand that donating blood is good for health.”
Dr Sobti said, “We need blood as Punjab has a large number of thalassaemic children. Federation is collecting data from the state, and till now more than 1,300 such children were identified.” She said donating blood helped the body in various ways, like stimulating bone marrow, which starts making more blood cells.
Dr Rajesh Kumar, associate professor, transfusion medicine and incharge of Blood Bank at DMCH, said, “Every healthy person should donate blood regularly without waiting for emergency in their family or for near and dear ones.”
{{/usCountry}}Dr Rajesh Kumar, associate professor, transfusion medicine and incharge of Blood Bank at DMCH, said, “Every healthy person should donate blood regularly without waiting for emergency in their family or for near and dear ones.”
{{/usCountry}}He said, “The first benefit of donating blood is that one gets a mini health checkup done. Donating blood also decreases the chances of cardiovascular diseases and the person gets balanced iron levels in body.”
“One also gets social benefits, like getting blood in case of emergency besides, getting social recognition,” Kumar said.