Wisdom & Knowledge - Chapter 6.1: The Inside on Blood Donation

25 Lakh Units, this was the shortage of blood supply in India; out of a total need of 135 lakh units i.e. an 18% gap between supply and demand. The outcome – an otherwise avoidable loss of human life. For years we have been struggling with a need for blood donation but still there are gaps which need to be filled. People often question about why do we actually need this much blood. So here’s a fact check for you:

1. Blood can’t be manufactured or produced, we are the only available source of blood.
2. Any pregnancy related complication requires 2 units of blood at an average, considering India’s birth rate and past data that’s close to 36.6 Lakh units of blood.
3. A medical condition may have a blood transfusion requirement as close as low as 2 units for nutritional anaemic patient and as high as 15 units for a bone marrow transplant; compiling close to 105.69 Lakh units of fresh blood.
4. Another 56.3 lakh units of blood is required to treat paediatric conditions alone.
5. With an average of 1200 road crashes per day, the surgical blood requirement is almost 66.3 lakh units for a year.

The figures are enormous but they are facts of how much blood we need in just one year; and the demand is ever rising with increasing population. Whenever we come across someone who we can help, we take a step towards making things better for the person, then why not with something as simple as 30 minutes of your day once in three months. And that small effort has the power to save three lives by the segregation of RBCs, platelets and plasma by a simple centrifugation. On some level we know these things but still we shy away or are scared from donating blood, majorly because of the myths surrounding blood donation. I can assure you from personal experience that they are myths. Here are some myth busters for you to ease your mind:

1. Blood donation leads to weakness: For a healthy adult, with a minimum weight of 45 Kgs and between the ages of 18 to 65 it’s perfectly okay to donate blood without any side effects. And to ensure no such weakness or side effects, doctors always advise to have a good meal before blood donation & provide refreshments after the donation also just in case.
2. Donating regularly will cause me medical issues: Donate blood only once in three months, and it doesn’t cause any medical concerns for the donor. On the contrary it helps you in burning calories. Our body holds roughly 4.5 to 5.5 liters of blood and a single unit if blood taken during donation is close to 525 ml which a healthy body can easily manage. (Please don’t give too much blood, just to burn calories ; )
3. Thin people cannot donate blood: For anyone with a weight of 45 Kgs, it’s perfectly normal to donate blood; unless you have low Haemoglobin count and that can be checked at the donation drive itself with a simple test.
4. Blood donation is a painful & time consuming process: For the time part, it takes at most 1 hour for blood donation to complete, that’s including 15 – 20 minutes of relaxation and I have even come across people working even during that time, you are just not allowed to use your donating arm and keep it stationary. And yes, it hurts to insert the needle as much as an injection but not after that.
5. Donating blood can contract diseases such as HIV: Each blood bag comes with its own needle which can’t be replaced. So once, a needle is used it can’t be reused anyway. That ensures that you don’t contact any disease during donation.

In case of any other queries on your exact medical condition and fitness to donate blood, the staff at the centers are well aware of all cases and can give you more insight if you are medically fit to donate blood. We maybe knowing these facts on some level but we are not acting on them. But if we keep on with this, the gap between demand and supply would be so huge that we would have to pay a huge price: both financially and the loss of a life. But taking our eye away from it doesn’t solve the problem, it only increases the pressure on our present and future; maybe more than what we can tackle. So the next time you come across an opportunity to donate blood, give it a thought. You can even go to your nearest hospital with a blood bank rather than waiting for a blood drive. We have the power to change these dynamic, today and for lifetime. The choice is ours alone.