Over 250k people donated blood during Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav: Mandaviya

Over 250k people donated blood during the 'Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav' which began on September 17 and concluded on National Voluntary Blood Donation Day on Saturday, according to Mandaviya

Over 2.5 lakh people donated blood during the 'Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav' which began on September 17 and concluded on National Voluntary Blood Donation Day on Saturday, according to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

The success of the 'Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav' has strengthened the noble cause of humanity which will help immensely in saving many precious lives, Mandaviya said while addressing a gathering on the occasion of National Blood Donation Day 2022 at AIIMS, Delhi.

"Blood donation is a noble cause and given our rich culture and tradition of 'seva' (service) and 'sahyog' (cooperation), on National Voluntary Blood Donation Day, let us all pledge to be always there for someone else and donate blood regularly," he said.

The minister said India's response to COVID-19 was inspired by the rich tradition of 'lok bhagidari' (public participation), showed the way to manage the pandemic and led to the world's largest Covid vaccination exercise.

"Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav was aimed at blood donation, blood distribution and blood management. It has also helped to increase awareness regarding regular non-remunerated voluntary blood donations and ensure that blood or its components (whole blood/packed red blood cells/plasma/platelets) are available, accessible, affordable and safe.

"The success of Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav has strengthened the noble cause of humanity which will help immensely in saving many precious lives. More than 2.5 lakh people have voluntarily donated blood under the Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav," Mandaviya said.

He also felicitated voluntary blood donors and states and union territories that have done exemplary work, rare blood group donors, regular single donor platelets donors, women blood donors and regular voluntary blood donors at the event.

One unit translates to 350 ml of blood.

According to 2021 statistics, India's annual blood requirement is around 1.5 crore units. In every two seconds, a patient in India needs blood and one out of every three people will need blood in their lifetime.

A person has five to six litres of blood in his or her body and can donate blood every 90 days.

The human body can recover blood very quickly -- blood plasma volume within 24-48 hours, red blood cells in about three weeks and platelets and white blood cells within minutes.

The shelf life of the donated blood is 35 to 42 days. It is also processed into components such as plasma, red blood cells and platelets. Frozen plasma can be used for up to a year, while red blood cells can be used for up to 35-42 days. Platelets need to be used within five days.

The 'Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav' was supported by the centralised blood bank management information system 'e-RaktKosh portal', which acts as a national repository of blood donors expediting blood availability when in need.