Govt promotes blood donation amid Covid-19 lockdown, issues guidelines

After partial relief in lockdown at select places, the government is now looking at promoting blood donation, especially for Thalassemic and Hemophilic patients.

In a letter to state blood transfusion councils (SBTC), the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) promoted voluntary blood donation programmes across the country. In the letter, it noted that due to the national lockdown from March 25, there was limited movement of Blood Mobile and Transportation vans, and blood donations.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a communication to the chief secretaries, administrators, Cmmissioner of Police of all the states to facilitate the movement of blood mobile/ transportation vans and blood donors.

In a letter to all the state health ministers, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan termed that availability of blood in blood banks as 'essential'. "We are cognizant of the situation that due to restrictions, it may not be possible to organize blood donation camps. However, at the same time, it is necessary to ensure sufficient availability of blood, especially for people needing regular blood transfusion on account of blood disorders such as Thalassemia, Sickle Cell Anemia and Hemophilia etc," he wrote.

To facilitate the donation process, he asked the Chief Ministers to appeal for blood donation through media and adviced to maintain records of donors and information on the status of current stocks of each blood group.

All the blood donors will be given passes for smooth movement during the lockdown.

The Health Minister also advised extra precaution for the Blood Donation Centers to prevent infection and assured availability of iron chelating agents and anti-hemophilia factors at hospitals, where Thalassemic and Hemophilic patients avail the services.

The guidelines were issued as there have been instances of hospitals shut down as few health care workers were tested positive for Covid-19. Several non-Covid health facilities have also reported Covid-19 cases impairing the functionality of such hospitals.