• Blood donation rates are not high in South Asia, but Nepal is an exception

Kathmandu, October 26 Nepal Red Cross Society has appealed to all organisations to hold more blood donation programmes so that it may meet demand for blood in Kathmandu Valley. Though there has been a surge in demand for blood from hospitals, NRCS is facing a hard time meeting the demand due to decrease in supply during festivals. According to NCRS, it witnessed fall in the collection of blood during festival holidays. Keeping in view this situation, NRCS has been running special blood collection campaign in Bhrikutimandap since yesterday. Dr Manita Rajkarninar, director at Central Blood Transfusion Service under NRCS, said, “This is a usual problem we face every Dashain, Tihar and Chhath. We appeal to all organisations and volunteers to donate blood.” Dibya Raj Paudel, communication officer at NRCS, said the special camp would continue from 11:00am to 3:30pm everyday until the blood supply was eased. According to NRCS, it had collected 236,799 pints of blood through blood donation camps organised in 105 places of 72 districts in the fiscal 2016-17 and distributed blood and blood components to 337,321 patients. The four main blood components include plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. As many as 3,753 mobile camps were organised to collect blood during the period. The country has Kathmandu-based CBTS and four regional-level blood centres in Biratnagar, Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Chitwan. There are also 23 district-level blood banks, 42 emergency units and 36 hospital units across the country. According to World Health Organisation, voluntary blood donation rates are not usually high in the South Asian region, but Nepal is a notable exception. The country has more than 500 blood donor groups. It estimates that blood donation by 1 per cent of the population can meet a nation’s most basic requirements for blood.