English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Even in the presence of sufficient voluntary blood donors, the need of blood is not met yet. We wanted to evaluate the causes that hinder the smooth functioning of well-maintained blood transfusion services (BTS). METHODS This is a population based cross-sectional study conducted among blood donors from voluntary outreach blood donation camp for period of one year. Total 1536 blood donors from 32 blood donation camps were subjected to study for the sociodemographic characteristic and their knowledge of blood donation. Statistical analysis of data was done using Microsoft Excel, analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) ver.16 software. RESULTS A total of 32 blood donation camps were conducted during the study period that provided 1536 donors. In most of the camps, male donors (75 %) were more than female donors. Donors of age group of 30 to 39 years (43.9 %) were more when compared to others. Donors those who were married accounted for 79.9 %. Blood donors of Hindu religion (53 %) were more. CONCLUSIONS The main hindrance for blood donor motivation is lack of knowledge. Literacy and chance to mingle in society have a positive effect on blood donor motivation. Targeting of effective donor motivation, recruitment, and retention were attained by conducting awareness classes, seminars, workshops, and visual communication modalities. KEYWORDS World Health Organization, Altruistic Blood Donor, Blood Transfusion Services, Transfusion Transmitted Infections, Blood Components and Plasma Derivatives, Director General of Health Services (DGHS), National Blood Transportation Council (NBTC)