Blood donation - notorious or healthy trend

KARACHI: Even the educated do not know of their moral obligation to donate blood and are much less aware of the fact that donating blood helps rejuvenate the body's blood production mechanism, which has many hidden benefits, said National Institute of Blood Diseases Chairman, Dr Tahir Shamsi.

The renowned haematologist and pioneer in bone marrow transplantation told Daily Times this on Wednesday on the occasion of a seminar titled "Blood donation - notorious or healthy trend" held at the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP), organized by the ACP medical and social welfare committee (ACPM&SWC).

There are numerous positive effects on the health of a blood donor but some of these effects are not either discussed as they are considered taboo or are not properly disclosed to people by the experts. One among several benefits of donating blood is that it boosts the production of fresh blood from bone marrow that carries more oxygen to cells everywhere in the body. Some important benefits of this process include improving libido in males and helping rectify erectile problems to some extent, said Shamsi.

Unfortunately, there is a serious lack of volunteers to donate blood and 30 percent of professional blood donors are HBV, HCV or HIV positive. Unscreened or improperly screened blood is the main factor involved in person-to-person transmission of lethal viruses. Volunteer blood is safe, helps improve donor lives and gives time to blood banks to keep an inventory of blood, plasma and platelets, which allows hundreds of bags of blood to be made available for use in emergencies, explained Shamsi.

Talking to Daily Times, ACPM&SWC president and prominent health activist Dr Qaisar Sajjad said that although the government has formed the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority to focus on issues pertaining to blood donations and blood banking, it is unfortunate that the authority has not fulfilled its assigned duties. In fact, the numbers of professional donors have significantly declined, even though they still exist in and outside the city so it is imperative that the authority promote voluntary blood donation.

Hussaini Blood Bank In-charge and Haematologist Dr Sarfaraz Jaffery told Daily Times that around 1.6 million bags are collected annually but at least 2.6 million bags are needed.

There are more than 65,000 cases of thalassemia in Pakistan, which creates a need for 900,000 bags of blood while only 1 to 2 percent of blood is needed for other cases, including deliveries. Donating blood improves pro-active habits and the amount of donated blood is restored within 3 months, said Jaffery.

Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre Blood Bank In-charge Associate Prof. Dr Mujeeb Ahmed told Daily Times that all blood banks offering multiple options on the cost of blood per bag, with or without donor, these banks have professional donors providing them blood. These blood banks pay donors for their blood and get the money back by giving them iron tablets.

Professional donors could also easily be recognized because unlike volunteers, they know their blood group more often than not. Referring to a study conducted on HIV outbreaks in Larkana, he said that each affected person readily shared his blood group and this meant that they are professional blood donors.

NIBD's Dr Tahir Shamsi also offered free blood screening facilities to participants while Dr Sajjad announced that a committee on blood donation has been formed.

By Irfan Aligi

Daily Times

24 July 2008