Life per pint

There are certain medical conditions that require a whole community to come together to help the patients receive the care they need in order to survive. Reliance on community members usually grows when a patient requires blood transfusions – something that cannot be created artificially. Hospitals and blood centres rely on people to voluntarily donate blood so that lives can be saved, and critically ill patients can live healthier lives. 

We saw the importance of blood donations during the Covid-19 pandemic when antibodies from unvaccinated patients played a big role in treating other patients, helping them dodge death and get back on the path to recovery. But in Pakistan, the number of voluntary blood donations and donors remain quite low. According to CEO of Indus Hospital Dr Abdul Bari Khan, hardly 10 per cent of people in Pakistan donate blood voluntarily. This is a worrying trend as an insufficient amount of blood at hospitals and other blood banks can lead to avoidable deaths.

It is also important to realize that in cases of accidents or childbirth when the loss of blood is usually sudden, timely blood transfusions are required to save a patient’s life. Hospitals mostly rely on a patient’s attendants to arrange for blood. In private healthcare centres, blood transfusions are started only when a patient’s family arranges for donors who agree to donate blood. There are also many patients in Pakistan who suffer from different blood disorders that require regular blood transfusions. Thalassemia patients, for example, require blood transfusions on a regular basis. According to healthcare experts, around 5000 children are diagnosed with beta thalassemia major every year, a disease which requires regular blood transfusions for survival.

It then becomes necessary for people to step up and contribute towards the health and wellbeing of the people of Pakistan. Not only are such blood donations helpful for patients, but they also go a long way in keeping donors healthy. And a person can donate blood three months after the previous donation. To encourage people to donate blood, healthcare centres like Indus Hospital should partner with colleges, universities and workplaces and hold sessions about the importance of blood donation. It is also important to mention that there are many people who do not think twice before donating blood for people they barely know. SOS calls made on social media platforms help desperate family members of critically ill patients to find donors. But there has to be a proper mechanism for such donations and a patient or his/her family members should not have to face the trouble of arranging blood bottles. This can only be done when all stakeholders come together to promote the culture of blood donations.