Blood Donors: Govt Blood Banks Dry Up As Pvt Banks Mushroom In City | Jaipur News
Over the last few years, the number of private blood banks have increased from 40 to around 70 blood banks in the city, many of them are supplying blood to SMS Hospital also, which has its own bank. When this came to the notice of Dr Rajeev Bagarhatta, principal of SMS Medical College, he issued a notice asking the doctors and hospital staff not to directly send attendants of patients to private blood banks, but rather they should be sent to the hospital’s blood bank to check the availability of blood. However, the SMS Hospital’s blood bank has started facing crisis due to dearth of donors.
“Private blood banks have cropped up, but the blood donors have not increased. Our requirement of blood is 1.5 lakh units annually, but in two years, new private blood banks have increased significantly. Most of our blood donors have shifted to new blood banks. We are facing the seasonal crisis as normally due to different reasons, blood donations go down in July and August. However, due to new private blood banks we are facing a lot of problems,” said Dr Bhim Singh Meena, head of department of immuno haematology and transfusion medicine, SMS Medical College.
He said that the SMS Medical College is now taking measures to step up its blood donation drive by getting in touch with colleges and intensifying their awareness campaign about blood donations in government blood banks.
The attendants of patients, who are coming to get blood from the SMS hospital’s blood bank, are encouraged to come with donors. “We need three units of blood for the surgery of my father. I have called my son and other relatives to donate blood to get blood for my father who will undergo surgery in the hospital for a tumor,” said Mukesh Meena, a resident of Alwar.
One Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Vaishali Nagar said, “I have arranged donors to get blood for the surgery of one of my relatives in the hospital.”
