Jabs for 18-45 may hit blood donations

Jabs for 18-45 may hit blood donations

Banks Call For Help From Youth

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:27.04.2021

Voluntary blood donations in the state may take a hit in the coming weeks with the government allowing those in the 18-45 age group to get vaccinated.

Since the majority of the voluntary donations are made by those in this age group and one having to wait for 28 days after the second Covid jab to donate, blood banks have appealed to youth to donate it before getting vaccinated.

If not enough turn up, road accident victims, cancer patients (for chemotherapy, etc) and people with HIV could suffer as their treatment involves multiple blood transfusions, say doctors.

At present, however, there is no acute shortage, with official data showing that the 90 National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO)-controlled blood banks in Tamil Nadu having around 35,000 units of blood. “Though there is nothing to panic as of now, we are taking adequate steps to increase voluntary blood donations in the coming days to avoid trouble,” said Deepak Jacob, member secretary of Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (Tansacs).

T Raja, an oncologist from Chennai, said his hospital transfused at least 600 units of red blood cells and 600 units of platelets every month.

“So far we are managing with our large access to donors. But we foresee difficulties as those who get vaccinated or infected might not be able to donate.

Besides this, accessing hospitals will also be a problem for many due to fear of getting infected. Why would they come out when there is so much risk?”

A senior Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI) doctor said they were requesting help from relative donors but this could change in the coming days.

The accident rate may also come down if stringent lockdown norms are introduced like last year. A majority of accidents last year were minor ones and roughly 5% needed blood transfusions, he said.

Tamil Nadu last year reported roughly 4,000 accidents every month.

Arun Kesav of PPP Foundations, a not-for-profit organisation in the field of blood donation, said finding donors becomes tough when a negative type is involved.

“For every 25 requests made from hospitals in and around Madurai, we used to find at least 15 donors. We are struggling to find even five now,” he said.

R Ravi, a blood bank incharge at a private hospital in Madurai, said the number of voluntary donors dropped from 100 a day in 2019 to 50 last month. On Sunday, just one donor turned up.

Elective surgeries are being also postponed, but the number of deliveries, requiring blood, remains unchanged.