With more than 87,000 (87,137) people voluntarily donating blood in a single day (as per provisional reports till 7:40 p.m. on Saturday), the country has surpassed the previous best of 87,059 (2014) to create a new world record on Saturday.
As many as 6,136 camps and over 1.95 lakh blood donors were registered (so far) on E-Rakt Kosh portal for the mega drive — another aspect of this nationwide effort, the Health Ministry mentioned in its release.
Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav was kickstarted by Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, who on Saturday donated blood at a camp set up at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi.
On Prime Minister Naredndra Modi’s 72nd birthday, the Union Health Ministry started a mega drive for voluntary blood donation from September 17 to October 1, which is National Voluntary Blood Donation Day.
The Health Ministry has also launched the E-Rakt Kosh portal, where registration for donors began on September 17. Arogya Setu app is another platform available for registration.
“I have done my bit for humanity. The gift of blood is a gift to someone’s life. Be a proud blood donor! Share your blood donation certificate and inspire others to join this noble cause of humanity,” said the Health Minister in his tweet.
The Health Ministry will also be creating a database of donors through this exercise. The campaign has been launched to increase awareness about the need for regular non-remunerated voluntary blood opportunities for social mobilisation and cohesiveness for the noble cause of blood donation, to ensure that blood/components (whole blood /packed red cells//plasma/platelets) are available, accessible, affordable and safe, the source said.
