Sponsored by:
NEST, DST, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

Objectives:

1. To collect base-line information on the annual and seasonal requirement of blood by the hospitals, nursing homes, and maternity homes etc. functioning in Lucknow.
2. To develop database of the blood donors and blood bank of Lucknow.
3. To assess the requirements in communication for the motivation of voluntary blood donors in the society- especially amongst the youth.
4. To create mass awareness through development of software and other POP materials on the prevailing myths regarding blood donation & the inculcation of voluntary spirit in various age groups, especially among the students.

Fattier nursing home, Luck now, alone is undertaking uterine fibroid removal surgery minimum twice a day & has an advance booking system for such cases and there are as many as 50 such centres for undertaking this type of case alone, the average daily requirement may be ranging between 400-600 unit of blood for this type of cases alone leaving apart the requirement for other surgical cases in the city. As such it may provide a reasonable spectrum of the situation prevailing in this capital city of Utter Prudish and without jumping on to any authentic conclusion, it would be safe to arrive at an estimated demand of 4000 to 5000 units of blood per day in Luck now! Now the moot question involved over here in this study is - do we have adequate, safe, and healthy blood donors in the city and if not, then how the blood banks are managing this requirement! We shall be dealing with this situation elsewhere in this report as well.

Govt. makes hepatitis C test a must in blood bank:

New Delhi: The union government has made the screening for hepatitis C virus mandatory for all blood banks in the country from July 1^st as per the INTERNET SERVICES.

The decision has been taken following reports of high prevalence of the virus in the country.

Transmitted mainly through infected blood and needles, the risk of transmission of the virus during transfusion is high.

In fact, experts have urged patients who received blood platelets in the wake of the dengue epidemic last year to get their blood tested for the presence of hepatitis C virus.

So far blood banks have been screening patients for the presence of hepatitis B, HIV, Syphilis, and malarial parasite. It was only after a study was conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences that hepatitis C was considered a serious problem.

The study at AIMS tested 15,992 healthy blood donors coming to the hospital's blood bank. It found a prevalence rate of 1.85 percent of hepatitis C, significantly more than the  HIV prevalence!

Blood bank experts have welcomed the decision. Additional professor at AIIMS, Ms. Ambika Naidu said "This was very much required."

Hepatitis C virus can lead to liver failure. It may take six months to a year for a virus to start showing symptoms after infection. The virus can be contracted through infected blood, needles, and sexual intercourse with an infected partner.

The initial symptoms are a loss of appetite, vomiting, and joint pains. But, as these are vague, a patient usually reaches the hospital when he has reached the final stage of liver failure, mentions an additional professor at AIIMS, Mr. S. K. Panda.

Experts feel that the prevalence of both hepatitis B & C are very high in pockets where adequate precautions are not taken for the sterilization of needles.

Conclusion:

As against the demand of an estimated 4000-5000 units per day as per break up given in the relevant section of this project report, where the availability of healthy donors is questionable, the question looming large is as to how these blood banks are coping up with the increasing demand of Lucknow!

The most unfortunate part of this study is that nobody including the concerned Drug Controller which has legal jurisdiction is worried about the state of affairs. Ironically, no blood bank in the city conforms to the prescribed guidelines in toto. Even if a single enterprise fulfils 25% criteria, it should be regarded as a good blood bank. The power break down is very frequent and no blood bank switches over to alternate power generation system to maintain temperature.

In a city having an average requirement of 4000-5000 units per day, the frequency of holding blood donation camps is negligible. There is also a serious limitation in the number of professional blood donors, who are cent percent malnourished / undernourished and survivors on low protein, low calorie diet as most of them belong to the weaker section of the society and are physically unable to the earn wages by doing casual labour and therefore, opted for this soft option to pass their life knowing fully well that they are close to the ultimate end of life.

By  standard, these professional donors who are numbering few hundreds scattered in the city belonging to an age group of 40-50 years, all males, sell their blood through these unscrupulous agencies. The hard fact of this quick study is that barring one or two blood banks, none complies with the prescribed guidelines and yet, they are languishing in this highly profitable human trade. The most striking feature of this study is that owing to the exorbitant demand of blood in city, the availability of even the professional donors is no match to the required quantum of blood, yet the blood banks are able to meet any requirement, which raises the crucial question about the origin of such blood. In the United States of America, an increasing trend of Cord Blood Bank has raised several ethical questions. In the background of the above revealing situation in Lucknow (India) nothing can be ruled out and unless proved otherwise, the mute question regarding source of blood shall continue to haunt the society in general and the scientists in particular.

More studies are therefore, required to answer these specific scientific questions on the status of blood available through blood banks in the country.