In Majha region, 170 thalassaemic kids face blood shortage

BLOOD BANKS ARE RUNNING LOW ON AVAILABILITY AMID CURFEW AND OTHER CURBS IN PUNJAB TO CURTAIL THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS

AMRITSAR: Around 170 children suffering from thalassaemia in the state’s Majha region are at risk due to blood banks running low on availability amid curfew and other restrictions imposed in Punjab to curtail the spread of coronavirus.

Thalassaemia is a genetic blood disorder due to which patients have to undergo blood transfusion every two to three weeks.

These 170 children, who belong to Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and other nearby areas, undergo treatment at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) here. As their requirement exceeds 500 units of blood every month, they are mostly dependent on donation camps held across the district.

When a group of kids visited GNDH for their routine blood transfusion on Tuesday, their parents were asked to bring donors as there was severe shortage in the hospital’s blood bank.

“These 170 patients include children as young as six months who need blood transfusion every 15 days. The requirement varies from 500 to 800 units of blood every month. In every blood donation camp, we collect over 100-150 units and supply them to GNDH for these children. The situation, however, is different since the restrictions were imposed,” said Satnam Singh, member of a society working for the cause for the past 20 years.

When contacted, GNDH’s blood bank in-charge Dr Neeraj said, “The hospital is short on blood, but we managed to help the children this time. Given the coronavirus concerns, we are taking adequate precautions and asking people to contact the blood bank and come and donate individually so that there is no gathering. We are also contacting various NGOs to send volunteers for donating blood, it is difficult during curfew.”

People should come forward to help these children as every unit of blood donated by them would give a Thalassemia patient 15 more days to live, she added.