Kathmandu, October 16

Kanchan Shakya, of Birendranagar, Surkhet, has been running from pillar to post in search of blood required for her daughter’s heart surgery in vain.

She has been contacting the Central Blood Transfusion Service of Nepal Red Cross Society for the last three days to get O positive blood for her daughter Selina’s open heart surgery, but she has failed.

There is not enough blood in store at any blood bank.

Shakya said she is worried about the deteriorating health of her daughter.

Doctors at Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre, where Selina, 12, has been admitted, have asked her mother to arrange 12 pints blood for her surgery by this evening.

“The operation will be postponed again if I cannot arrange the required blood by this evening,” Shakya lamented.

She had taken the operation date six months ago. The CBTS, which supplies blood to patients, has provided Shakya just one pint blood in the last three days.

“I don’t know how long I will have to wait for the surgery,” She complained.

Likewise, Nabin Bhandari of Majuwa, Turang, in Gulmi has been contacting CBTS officials for the last three days for AB positive blood for 30-month-old Anmol Thapa, the son of his relative, but to avail.

Doctors at Kanti Children Hospital, where Thapa has been admitted for treatment for blood cancer, have asked his parents to arrange blood immediately. “Doctors have asked us to arrange blood immediately but it is very difficult to find it,” complained Bhandari.

Like Shakya and Bhandari, patients in critical condition have been facing difficulty in Kathmandu because of acute blood shortage in blood banks.

Due to the long Dashain holiday, the CBTS and its units in most of the major hospitals have been running out of blood. The CBTS said the everyday demand for blood in Kathmandu Valley is more than 400 pints, but collection is almost nil these days.

“We have requested institutions to organise emergency blood collection programmes,” said Sobha Bista, public relations officer at CBTS.

At the request of the CBTS, an emergency blood collection programme was organised in Bhotahiti and Ason in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Bista said prospective donors had just started to return to Kathmandu. She added that they were expecting 50 donors to show up but only 28 turned up.

The CBTS has asked hospitals to return unused blood immediately and also asked the relatives to give blood in lieu of the blood they receive from CBTS. Bista said that CBTS was facing dearth of all blood groups.

Premsagar Karmacharya, president of Nepal Voluntary Blood Donor’s Society said most hospitals had postponed scheduled surgeries due to blood crisis.

Manoj Kumar Thapa, secretary at Bhaktapur Blood Bank informed that his branch had reached Kavrepalanchowk and Sindhupalchowk to collect blood. He said his branch brought more than 300 pints of blood to manage the crisis.