The theme for this year’s world blood donor day- 'Safe blood for all'- focuses on the two cornerstones of an effective blood transfusion service, namely: safety and adequacy of blood supply. Globally, the demand for blood and blood products is on the rise with increasing life expectancy of the population and the availability of advanced life saving treatment modalities like organ transplantation, chemotherapy and life support systems. The last century has seen unparalleled advances in transfusion therapy; the steps which go into blood processing right from the donor to the recipient have evolved into a medical speciality in itself.
Safe blood starts from a safe donor. Despite all advances in testing and technology the regular voluntary blood donor remains the central pillar in ensuring blood safety. The large majority of blood banks are forced to depend on the replacement donors brought on behalf of patients to meet the huge day to day demand for blood products. Since the donors are brought by the patient, they are under pressure to donate and may sometimes conceal valuable medical history jeopardising the safety of the donated blood. The awareness regarding the need for voluntary blood donation is sadly lacking. Most people who are willing to donate usually come forward only when requested. Much effort is required to convert such donors to regular voluntary donors. More awareness and motivation is needed in this regard to the extent that regular blood donation becomes a part of life for our youth. If at least 1% of our population donate blood regularly we can substantially reduce our reliance on replacement donors thus reducing the brunt on the patients to search for donors, at the same time significantly improving blood safety.
Since the advent of component therapy, a single donation of whole blood can benefit 3 or 4 patients. Component modifications like leukoreduction, irradiation, newer testing modalities for infectious disease screening like nucleic acid testing, pathogen reduction technology, newer technological applications in compatibility testing, apheresis technology for blood component collection and so on are adding layers of safety to blood transfusion. But the universal access to these facilities is yet to be achieved. For most developing countries inadequate voluntary blood donor resources continue to be the most pressing problem which needs to be addressed.
With research going on in every aspect of blood transfusion including its clinical effects, guidelines are being developed and revised for the rational use of blood products. Blood is a drug to be used only when absolutely indicated. Unnecessary transfusions put patients at risk of avoidable transfusion related complications. Proper clinical decision regarding transfusion would also go a long way in making this precious drug available for those really indicated patients. Healthy interaction between the clinicians and transfusion service can significantly help to provide the right transfusion support to patients at the right time. There is emerging focus on tailoring the transfusion support based on the individual patient’s requirements.
Thus our aim of providing safe blood to all can be achieved only through a good teamwork of a large group of dedicated altruistic voluntary blood donors, quality transfusion services and well informed clinicians who are committed to the cause. The work should start right from the grass root level through awareness creation in the society, donor motivation and recruitment programmes. The prospective blood donor should realise the importance of his role and his moral responsibility towards the provision of safe blood supply to the society as a whole.
Written By
Dr Poornima AP,
MBBS(2003) MD Transfusion medicine
Assistant Professor Government medical college Paripally, Kollam.
