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Turnstone Global and Pragati Sangha Behala jointly organized a blood donation camp on 16th July 2017 at Manton Behala in West Bengal. The no. of donors are thirty three.
From ‘threat of catching diseases’ to ‘blood donation causing weakness,’ various myths keep the people from donation. There is also a big misconception that blood donation causes various diseases. In our country that is going to be the next superpower, India is still being held back by myths like these. More people are needed to come forward and donate blood to help fellow citizens live a long and healthy life. Blood donation is noble cause indeed and it’s sad to see such a large blood deficit in our country. We tried to identify the common myths. The results clearly show that we need to educate the masses about the importance of blood donation and make them aware as to how safe it is. Despite being a country with a population of 1.2 billion, India faces a blood shortage of 3 million units. The problem can be addressed if an additional two percent of Indians donated blood. There is a constant need to replenish stocks in our blood banks. The problem could be addressed if only two percent more Indians donated blood. Statistics show that there are 234 million major operations in India, 63 million trauma-induced surgeries, 31 million cancer-related procedures and 10 million pregnancy related complications which require blood transfusions. Apart from these there are also disorders like sickle cell anemia, thalassemia and Hemophilia that require repeated blood transfusions.
Blood is a specialized body fluid. It has four main components: plasma, concentrated red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Plasma; the liquid component of blood is called plasma, a mixture of water, sugar, fat, protein, and salts. The main job of the plasma is to transport blood cells throughout your body along with nutrients, waste products, antibodies, clotting proteins, chemical messengers such as hormones, and proteins that help maintain the body’s fluid balance.
Concentrated RBC; known for their bright red color, red cells are the most abundant cell in the blood, accounting for about 40-45 percent of its volume. The shape of a red blood cell is a biconcave disk with a flattened center – in other words, both faces of the disc have shallow bowl-like indentations (a red blood cell looks like a donut). However, while the lack of a nucleus makes a red blood cell more flexible, it also limits the life of the cell as it travels through the smallest blood vessels, damaging the cell’s membranes and depleting its energy supplies. The red blood cell survives on average only 120 days.
Platelets (also called thrombocytes); unlike red and white blood cells, platelets are not actually cells but rather small fragments of cells. Platelets help the blood clotting process (or coagulation) by gathering at the site of an injury, sticking to the lining of the injured blood vessel, and forming a platform on which blood coagulation can occur. This results in the formation of a fibrin clot, which covers the wound and prevents blood from leaking out. Fibrin also forms the initial scaffolding upon which new tissue forms, thus promoting healing.
White Blood Cells (also called leukocytes); White blood cells protect the body from infection. They are much fewer in number than red blood cells, accounting for about 1 percent of your blood. The most common type of white blood cell is the neutrophil, which is the “immediate response” cell and accounts for 55 to 70 percent of the total white blood cell count. Each neutrophil lives less than a day, so your bone marrow must constantly make new neutrophils to maintain protection against infection. Transfusion of neutrophils is generally not effective since they do not remain in the body for very long.
The current scenario is definitely hopeful however challenges continue to exist. The target for the country is to achieve more than 90% Voluntary Blood Donation. The VBD in almost 13 states of the country is less than 50%. The government has plans to set up a national plasma fractionation center and also to support existing ones to supply plasma derived medicinal products. The only help for hemophiliac patients now is fresh frozen plasma or cryoprecipitate, the availability of factor concentrates is restricted by lack of indigenously prepared coagulation factor VIII or IX concentrates.
