Essay on “National Blood Donation Day – October 1” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

National Blood Donation Day – October 1 

World Blood Donation Day is commemorated on October 1, as a global celebration of the millions of people celebration of the millions of people throughout the world who give their blood on a voluntary, unpaid basis to save the lives of unpaid   basis to save the lives of those in need. The day aimed to raise awareness of the need for safe blood, to thank and honour those blood donors who make transfusion possible and to encourage regular blood donation by suitable donors.

Blood Donation

What is it?

Blood donation is the process of giving blood to be used for blood transfusions. A person who gives blood for this purpose is called a donor. The food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strict rules for the collection, processing, storage, and transportation of blood and blood components. These regulations are important because they ensure that infectious diseases are not transmitted during blood transfusions.

Blood donation is extremely important because it is the only way to maintain sufficient blood supplies for medical treatment. That is why local hospitals, blood banks, and voluntary organizations sponsor frequent blood drives. Because many people feel more comfortable knowing the source of the blood for a transfusion, many donor are friends  or family me members of a recipient. This is called a direct donation and the blood is stored at the hospital for a specific patient’s use.

How do you prepare for this procedure?

 All blood donors are carefully screened for conditions that would make them poor candidates for blood donation. If you have hepatitis, AIDS, certain types of cancer, heart disease, severe asthma, malaria, bleeding disorders, low blood pressure, or high blood pressure, you may not donate blood. You also may not donate if you have been exposed to the AIDS virus, are pregnant, have had recent surgery, or are using certain drugs. Al these precautions are in place to protect the people who might receive your blood. The process of giving blood, however, is extremely safe.

The facility where you donate will use sterile equipment so you cannot catch an infection. You may not give blood more often than once every two months. If you know you will be undergoing surgery. You may want to donate your own blood about a month before your surgery. This is called an antilogous transfusion, and   the blood you donate is stored at the hospital for your use only if you need a transfusion during or after surgery, your own blood will be used.

How is this procedure performed?

Before you donate blood, the healthcare professional will check your blood pressure, temperature, and pulse, you will lie down on a bed or cot, then he or she will tighten a wrapping, called a tourniquet, on your upper arm to increase the pressure on the veins in your arm so they will swell. This  makes it easier to identify the larger veins and to insert the needle into the vein. The healthcare professional will clean the area where the needle will be inserted with an antiseptic wash, then insert a large needle into the vein. You will feel a slight sting as the needle goes in, but the rest of the procedure should be painless.

The blood flows through a tube into a sterile plastic bag that holds around  one pint (450 ml) of blood, also called one unit. People usually donate one unit at a time. The average man has 10 to 12 pints of blood in his body. While the average woman has 8 to 9 pints. A small sample of the blood you donate is put aside for testing for infectious diseases. No blood is used until all test results have shown that it is safe. All donated blood is also classified and labeled by type, either A, B, AB, or O , and RH- positive or RH- negative. This is because donor blood must be matched to the recipients blood type. The sterile bags, which contain preservatives and an agent that prevents clotting, are keep refrigerated. Whole blood is usable for 42  days.

Donated blood can also be broken down into blood components, which include re d blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, immunoglobulin , or fresh frozen plasma, which is the liquid part of the blood. Perhaps you are donating blood because someone you know needs a blood component like platelets, which help with blood clotting. A special instrument can be used to separate your remaining components back into your body. This procedure is called aphaeresis.

Issues of Blood Safety in India

The high risk of HIV and Hepatitis B and C infections due to contaminated blood; blood products, surgical instruments, and needles are common in India, in fact, this is a problem common to all developing countries  and not just prevalent in India Therefore , the need to devise effective strategies for developing countries is urgent in light of the pandemics.

Indian government study based on data from HIV sentinel survey centers concludes that about 10 % of the HIV infections are due to blood, blood products, surgical instruments, and needles.  

Today, people are not willing to go to govt. hospital and accept a blood transfusion unless they personally know a doctor since the risk is very high.

Unless we, as a society, resort respect for the law and develop the fortitude to hold ourselves and other people accountable, we cannot expect to get rid of the risk  and fear of HIV and hepatitis infections through contaminated blood, blood products, surgical instruments, and needles.

World Blood Donor Day, June 14

The World Blood Donor Day, June 14, will highlight how voluntary blood donors can help  save the lives of thousands of mothers and newborns around the world. The motto is: Safe Blood for Safe Motherhood.

“Safe Blood for Safe Mother hood” is the theme of this years’ World Blood Donor Day, June 14, to focus on how voluntary blood donors can help save the lives of thousands of mothers and newborns around the world.

The World Blood Donor Day was officially designated as an annual events by the world Health Assembly in 2005 and is organized by the world Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Society of Blood Transfusion and   the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations.    

Some facts

• Less than 25 countries have achieved 100 per cent voluntary blood donation. Many countries still depend to varying degrees on blood donation by friends and family of a patient needing transfusion. I am some countries donors are still paid to give blood.
• About 60 per cent of the global blood supply is donated in developed countries where less than 20 per cent of the world’s population live. Many other countries suffer from acute blood shortages.
• Each year, more than five Iakh women die needlessly during pregnancy or childbirth, 99 per cent of them in the developing world.
• Up to one quarter of all maternal deaths could be saved by access to safe blood transfusion.

Elements and activities in promoting voluntary blood donation include

• National blood donor programme for the education, recruitment and retention of low-risk blood donors, including community-based voluntary blood donor organizations and youth programmes;
• Appointment of an officer responsible for the national blood donor programme to include donor education, motivation, recruitment and retention;
• Training of donor recruitment and donor care staff in donor education, motivation, recruitment, selection and retention;
• Development of partnerships with nongovernmental organizations, such as national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, voluntary blood donor organizations, national service organizations and the media
• Identification of donor populations at low risk for transfusion-transmissible infections and development of strategies to promote positive attitudes towards voluntary blood donation; • Development of donor education and recruitment materials;
• Educational and media campaigns in workplaces, communities and educational institutions;
• Establishment and maintenance of a database/register of donor records;

About blood donors

Blood is needed worldwide each day, to save the lives of people involved in accidents, or who need operations or transfusions for certain medical conditions

Every country has its own criteria for selecting blood donors. If you are interested in giving blood, you should contact your nearest blood centre directly. As a guide, to be a blood donor, you should meet the following requirements:

• be in good health
• generally weigh more than 45-50 kg
• be aged between 16 to 70 years (18 to 65 in some countries)
• meet all the guidelines designed to protect both the person giving the blood and the person who may receive the blood.

The average blood donation consists of about 450 to 470 ml of blood, which represents about eight per cent of the blood volume of an average adult. The body replaces this naturally, a process that is helped by drinking extra water-based fluids. Often, people are concerned about giving blood the first time, but staff at local blood centers can provide further information when you visit. Many donors enjoy the personal satisfaction of saving someone’s life in such a simple way, and the contact with other like-minded citizens, and make the effort to attend their blood centre every few months.

Safe Blood Donors

Safe blood donors are the cornerstone of a safe and adequate supply of blood and blood products. The safest blood donors are voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors from low-risk populations. Despite this, family/replacement and paid donors, which are associated with a significantly higher prevalence of transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) including HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis and Chagas disease, still provide more than 50% of the blood collected in developing countries. WHO advocates and recommends to its Member States to develop national blood transfusion services based on voluntary non-remunerated regular blood donation in accordance with World Health Assembly resolution 28.72, which was adopted in 1975.

 The key to recruiting and retaining safe blood donors is good epidemiological data on the prevalence (and incidence, where possible) of infectious markers in the general population to identify low-risk donor populations coupled with an effective donor education, motivation and recruitment strategy to recruit new voluntary non-remunerated blood donors from these populations. A pleasant experience during blood donation, good donor care and effective communication between blood centre staff and blood donors are all-important factors for the retention of safe blood donors.

 WHO has developed a set of simple guidelines designed to assist those responsible for blood donor recruitment in resource poor settings to develop and implement a programme to improve communication with blood donors. These guidelines provide approaches for setting up a communication programme — organizing, collecting information, and developing plans; as well as providing ideas that individual centers might consider for recruiting, educating and retaining safe donors.