Mohammad Imran, a 35-year-old thalassemia patient, lives at Mira Road on the outskirts of Mumbai, but goes to Vile Parle for blood transfusion every 10 to 14 days. However, his schedule has been hit as the blood bank has informed him that A+ blood is not available. Imran needs the transfusion and care as he has liver-related ailments.
For the first time ever, Mumbai’s blood banks have such a dearth in supply that hospitals are asking patients’ relatives to organise at least four donors in exchange for one unit of blood. Arranging blood for admitted patients is actually a hospital administration’s duty, experts say. Vinay Shetty, vice president of the non-profit Think Foundation, says, “Only 3,500-4,000 units of blood are in the blood banks now. It’s very alarming as 2,400 thalassemia patients of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) require blood. Every day 175 units are used by these patients. How are we going to bridge the gap between demand and supply as blood donations have been hit by the fear of Covid-19?”
Arvind Bhosale, a Shiv Sena worker who has organised 95 blood donation camps till now, says that 54 authorised blood banks in the Mumbai-Thane region supply around 1,200 units of blood every day, but a lack of donation camps has hit supply so hard that even before admissions hospitals ask patients to arrange blood. He also requested citizens to donate blood.
The blood bank of Jagjivan Ram Hospital in Mumbai has a capacity of 2,000 units, but only 48 units remain. It is likely to run out in a day or two depending on the requisitions made by nearby hospitals. Dr Amir Sangram is worried as surgeries that had been postponed earlier are being performed now. Also, after the ‘unlocking’ process taking off, road accidents have increased, requiring more blood units compared to the lockdown period.
The authorities say that fear of the second wave of Covid-19 is causing people to avoid visiting hospitals and there is a lack of blood donation camps, leading to the crunch.
Dr Arun Thorat, joint director of the State Blood Transfusion Council, has written to the blood banks to arrange small camps in residential complexes and has also asked them to reach out to religious, political and social organisations for camps.
Dr Preet Valecha, director at Navjivan Blood Bank, said, “There is a crisis as we have only 38 units in the hospital. Most of the donors are hesitant as they are assuming that they will acquire the disease by donating blood. To overcome this issue, more camps should be organised at regular intervals. We used to get 100 units of blood in one camp but these days getting 30 to 40 units is also a big task.” She also said that one donor can save three lives as blood contains haemoglobin, plasma and platelets.
The city needs three lakh units of blood in a year, out of which almost one lakh units are donated by IT professionals, around 40 thousand each by college students and community-based organisations. The lockdown has made that impossible as colleges are closed and IT professionals are working from home. Also, railway stations are the biggest source to collect blood through camps, but Mumbai local train services have been restricted.
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