Ahead to 100% of voluntary nonremunerated blood donation at a tertiary referral hospital blood bank in South India

Abstract

Sir, Recruitment and retention of new blood donor is an important task for blood banks for self-sufficient of blood and blood products. Availability of blood and blood products has been a universal problem for a long time. Blood is a scarce resource and it is the responsibility of Blood Banks to ensure that blood supply is safe, adequate, and available to meet needs of our patient populations. Motivation, recruitment, and retention of voluntary blood donors are important criteria to achieve safe blood donation. [1] Voluntary nonremunerated blood donors are considered to be safest source. [2] Converting first-time donors to become regular donors continues to be a challenge for blood banks. [3] Indian blood donation system currently operates using bloods from both voluntary and replacement donors. Indian government has aimed to evacuate the replacement blood donors to achieve 100% voluntary nonremunerated blood donation due to safety concerns. Voluntary blood donors are continuously necessary for patients because the demand for donor blood is never ending. Over a million blood units are collected every year; and many more millions still need to be collected to meet the global demand and ensure sufficient and timely provision of blood. [4]