Shillong, Oct 01: Every year, on the 1st October our nation celebrates National Voluntary Blood Donation Day (NVBDD). The event serves to raise awareness of the need for regular blood donations to ensure the quality, safety and availability of blood and blood products for patients in need.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “At Least Donate Once in a Lifetime” which calls for every individual of 18 years and above to save the lives of other human by donating their precious blood.
The State Level Observation of NVBDD was celebrated at the Conference Hall of Pasteur Institute where the Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills District, Smti. M War Nongbri attended as Chief Guest. Also present were the senior officials of Health Department, students, blood donors and others.
The celebration was organised by the Meghalaya AIDS Control Society in collaboration with Meghalaya State Blood Transfusion Council, Directorate of Health Services (Research) and all Licensed Blood Banks.
In her speech, the DC said that donating blood is the great humanity and vital part in life saving in the modern health care system. Blood donation not only save the lives of the patients who need blood but it can also save the lives of the donors because by donating blood in licensed blood banks they have the opportunity to know their own health status, she added. It does not matter who is the blood donor or blood receiver, a donor can be a receiver and a receiver can be a healthy donor in the future, she said.
To remove the fear psychosis prevailing amongst the society that donating blood is detrimental to health, the DC felt that awareness programmes should be organised at village level in collaboration with VECs, village Dorbar, NGOs and relevant agencies to make people understand that blood donation does not affect the health of the donor and to make them understand about the value of blood and how donating it could save lives.
She also suggested that blood donation awareness programme be held in government offices and educational institutions and others to successfully achieve the target of Voluntary Blood Donation to fulfil the urgent need of the needy patients. She also called upon the MACS to explore options to collaborate with District Disaster Management Agencies in the State so that precious lives could be saved during disasters.
She encouraged people of the State and voluntary blood donors to come forward and donate their blood in licensed blood banks so that lives could be saved by one such act of kindness. She called upon the citizens to not donate blood only to relatives or friends but to voluntarily donate it for any human being through licensed blood banks so that we have adequate and quality assurance blood units in our blood banks.
Dr C Budnah, Member Secretary, SBTC, Meghalaya while presenting an overview of the Blood Transfusion Services in Meghalaya, informed that the State has 8 licensed blood Banks and 6 Blood Storage Centres.
She lamented that in the past five years, inspite of blood donation camps and other blood donation programmes organised, only a meagre 42% come forward to voluntarily donate blood in the State which is not enough to meet the demand of quality assurance blood units.
She called upon the people of the State to response to the call to at least donate it once in a lifetime to ensure availability of safe blood.
The Deputy Commissioner also handed over the contribution towards voluntary non-remunerated blood donation in the State to the representative of Ai Jingim Voluntary Blood Donors Organisation, the organisation of 54 members who has been in the forefront in blood donation for the last ten years.
Voluntary Blood Donation Camp was also organised in the Regional Blood Bank, Pasteur Institute, Shillong to celebrate the day.
