Blood Banks Running On Low Reserves, Seek Urgent Help

Health Ministry warns hospitals not to turn away the needy

- Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Pushed against the wall, hospitals across India have now started contacting individual blood donors to tide over the acute shortage of blood that most of them are facing with the continued lockdown.

Added to this is the confirmation from the Union Health Ministry that it was receiving several complaints over calls, and Twitter and other social media, on the denial of treatment to patients suffering from critical ailments other than COVID-19.

“The worst hit are patients requiring dialysis, having blood disorders, and pregnant women. We are now dipping very deep into our reserves and will find it very tough to carry on operations if we urgently don’t receive adequate blood supply. Now the crisis is such that we are calling listed donors and those with rare blood groups to come in and donate. Also, there is a shortage of the commonly seen B-positive blood group,” said Himanshu Lamba, consultant, Department of Lab Transfusion Medicine, Manipal Hospital in New Delhi.

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