Mangaluru: Father Muller Medical College Hospital Blood Bank in association with Youth Red Cross Unit, Father Muller Medical College and Catholic Association of South Kanara (CASK) observed World Blood Donor Day under the theme “Safe blood for all” here on Thursday, June 20.
The chief guest of the programme was Rev. Fr. Alwin Serrao, Principal, Padua College of Commerce and Management, Mangaluru.
The guest of honour was Rtn PHF C A Shantharam Shetty, Chairman, Indian Red Cross Society, Dakshina Kanada district.
The programme was presided over by Rev. Fr. Richard Coelho, Director of FMCI.
Speaking on the occasion, Rev. Fr. Alwin Serrao recollected his memories of getting into the practice of donating blood.
He said, “The concept of donating blood was seeded in me when I was pursuing my undergraduation. At that point of time, one of my classmates had met with an accident and I had donated my blood for the first time then. Now, every year, I make a point to donate blood atleast twice a year. I also encourage my students to donate blood and involve in the process, voluntarily. This gives me immense joy and happiness and eventually, sound sleep.”
“Even till this day, I feel satisfied that I donate blood and it helps in saving ones’ life. Blood donation is a spiritual experience. For this reason, we have opened a blood donation centre in Padua College. The centre is called as Padua Blood Corner. We have had 90 donors till date with almost 50 percent of them in the ‘Yellow Card’ (a card which the blood donor hands over to the blood bank) which proves that we have regular donors in our blood corner”, he added.
C A Shantharam Shetty said, “We should be thankful to Karl Landsteiner, on whose birth anniversary, the World Blood Donation day is celebrated throughout the globe. Because of him, today, the life expectancy rate has gone high. He had invented ABO blood group system for which he also won the Nobel Prize. Hence, this day shall be celebrated in each and every house.”
“In 2012, we had a theme ‘Every blood donor is a hero’, in 2016 ‘Blood connects all’ and in 2019 we are holding it under ‘Safe blood for all.’ We need to understand that the blood donors are the real heroes who help in saving several lives. But unfortunately, only few are coming forward voluntarily to donate blood in the district. A donor like Sudhakar, a resident of Puttur has donated blood for almost 104 times at the age of 55, for which we at the Red Cross, felicitated him. Such must be inspiration for many”, he added.
He said, “The patients must not panic as there could be instances of some hospitals providing blood only if they can afford to bring atleast two donors. For this reason, the Red Cross has come up with a policy that blood donation must not be replacement, but awareness.”
Shantharam Shetty said that in the coming days, they had decided to open the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadi Kendra at Padavinangady.
Fr. Richard Coelho said, “We cannot inflict pain on others but unfortunately it happens very often. Loss of blood is equivalent to loss of life. The concept of blood donation needs a vigorous awareness among the commoners as it becomes an uphill task to make them understand its importance.”
“Organ donation on the other hand, is a herculean task inspite of us having several special sections for counseling on it. The charity extended by Father Muller Charitable Trust is Rs. 48 Crore and is soon expected to touch Rs 50 Crore mark”, he added.
Meanwhile, the blood donors, particularly, the CASK members were felicitated for donating blood several times.
Dr. Derrick, who is also from CASK and who has served in FMMCH for five decades, threw light on the organ and blood donation scenario in India.
He said, “We, in our country, are counting on brain dead people for organ donation, which will not work. We have several healthy people who are just buried after they are dead. If they and their family make up their mind before breathing their last, their organs can help give life to others who are in need. The problem in our country is, if a person dies in a road accident, they are rushed to the nearby hospitals and only that hospital can go initiate organ donation process and wait for patients with the requirement. The organs of humans ranging from the age of 10 to 80, can be donated.”
“India needs approximately 13.4 million units of blood per year and in 2017, we were able to manage collecting only 11.45 million units of blood. This is a shortage of 1.95 million units of blood. We cannot consider it as a shortage as we have the highest percentage of youth population ranging between 15 and 30 years who can come forward voluntarily and donate. Hence this becomes unacceptable”, he added.
The students of Father Muller Institution who had won in the poster making competition organised on June 14 on account of World Blood Donation Day, were given away certificates and cash prize. The participants were:
- First place–Jenny A and Amrutha P N of II year MBBS with a certificate and cash prize of Rs 1500 each
- Second place–Shruthi V T and Pallavi U M of III year MBBS with a certificate and cash prize of Rs 1000 each
- Third place–Sharon M C and Reema H N from II year MBBS with a certificate and cash prize of Rs 500 each
Dr. Kirana Pallor welcomed the gathering.
Dr. Charu Khosla introduced the guests and Dr. Christol Moras, the guest of honour.
Dr. Maithreyee rendered the vote of thanks.
The programme was compered by Dr. Laveena and Dr. Stephaney.
Rev. Fr. Rudolph Ravi D’Sa, Administrator of FMMCH, Dr. Jayaprakash Alva, Dean of FMMCH, Naina Fernandes, President of CASK and others were present.
