LONDON: More than 150 members of the Indian community in Northern Ireland were left frustrated after being told they couldn’t donate blood during a camp in Belfast because they were born in India and would need to undergo a malaria test.
The camp was organised on September 23 by the charity organisation Sudarshanam after nine months of planning and discussions with the Northern Ireland Transfusion Service (NITS) .
Organisers told Hindustan Times the issue of place of birth or the malaria test was never raised during the preparations.
Trustee Srikant Ganapati said on Wednesday: “It was the first such effort by any Asian organisation here but at the last moment, we were asked if we were born in India, or had visited India. Even a 62-year-old Indian who never visited India for the last 58 years was prevented from donating blood.”