Blood banks in Karnataka have been facing a severe shortage of life-saving blood for the last two months. While the shortage is noticed during every summer vacation, the ongoing elections and unprecedented heatwave conditions have made the situation worse.
While most of the 43 government-run banks are able to manage through donations by their regular walk-in donors, several of the 217 private blood banks are not able to meet even 50% of the demand as their supply mainly depends on voluntary blood donation camps.
Ever since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha polls came into force on March 16, hardly any blood donation camps have been conducted. While educational institutions, where camps are usually held, are closed for the summer vacation, even those who want to donate are not keen due to the severe heatwave conditions.
Heatwave conditions
Some organisers of voluntary donation camps are worried that donors may develop health issues after donation, as dehydration and heat-related weakness are common during summer. “Usually, donation camps were organised to mark politicians’ birthdays and other occasions. But, now, this is not possible till June first week as MCC is in force. Besides, even those who want to donate are sometimes found to be dehydrated or unfit to donate. All these factors have led to a severe shortage of readily available blood,” said T.N. Ravi Kumar, director of Red Cross Blood Bank Sub-Committee. He said the shortage had hit patients, mostly in private hospitals where they were asked to replace the blood given before discharge.
Abdul Rehman Shariff, managing trustee of Jeevaraksha Blood Centre, said his bank is facing a 50% shortage. “We have a demand for around 500 units per month, but we are able to supply only around 300 in the last two months. The situation is the same across all blood banks, and we are also getting requests from government hospital blood banks,” he said.
Donation camps
Narasimhaswamy L., Medical Officer at Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Centre, said this NABH-accredited centre was able to manage through pre-planned donation camps in corporate companies and regular donors. “The demand is high in all blood banks as voluntary camps are not being held. While we are able to manage, we do not have any buffer stocks. We are supplying as and when blood is collected. Apart from several government hospitals, we also regularly support 100 thalassemia children,” he said.
Lions Blood Bank, Vijayanagar, where over 1,250 units are collected monthly, has been able to mobilise only around 800 units a month each in March and April. “This is a problem every summer when colleges are closed. But this year, donations have been hit across all blood centres due to elections and the severe heat,” said Manoj Kumar, managing trustee of the bank.
Not alarming
Acknowledging blood collection has been hit to some extent due to elections and heatwave conditions, Nagaraja N.M., Director of Karnataka State Blood Transfusion Council, told The Hindu that the problem is not alarming in the government blood centres. “We have regular walk-in donors and are able to meet the demand. The situation will stabilise after mid-May when educational institutions, where most of the voluntary blood camps are held, reopen,” he said.
The official stated that 10,051 camps were held in the financial year (2023-2024) and that 9,73,677 units were collected, exceeding the target of 8,15,402 units.
