" NATIONAL BLOOD DONATION DAY : OCTOBER 1."

National Blood Donation Day Celebration Programs

The National Blood Donation falls on 1 October 2008.As a curtain raiser event TERUMO PENPOL Limited in association with State Bank of Travancore, All Kerala Blood Donors Society and Club 25 are planning to celebrate National Blood Donation on 29th September at vylopilly samskrithi Bhavan Nanthencode,Trivandrum,KERALA.

Current Scenario

There is no substitute for blood and blood components, so without blood many patients would die. If we want to plan for the collection of the necessary quantity of blood to meet the demand for blood and in this way guarantee the possibility to receive safe blood transfusions in case of need, we have to make the larger public aware of the necessity to give blood regularly, because of the short possible duration of conservation of blood components.
The shortage of safe blood particularly impacts Cancer Patients, children suffering from thalassemia, road traffic accidents and trauma victims, women with complicated pregnancy and those undergoing major surgeries.The onus is on the patient in most hospitals to find the donors. Unless the patient’s family arranges donors, the hospitals will not issue blood or post the case for surgery. Therefore, in addition to the physical, mental, and financial trauma of hospitalization where almost the entire cost is to be borne directly by the patient, the patient has to undergo the stress and strain of searching for donors, often in a strange town, leading them into the clutches of unscrupulous middlemen who will arrange blood for a price. While such mediation, however undesirable, may work in the case of acute demand for blood, it is impracticable for those requiring blood transfusion on a long-term basis. What actually then happens is that these people simply die.

There is lack of awareness about blood donation and people do not have the will or inclination to donate blood voluntarily. The public should be educated that all healthy men can donate blood once in three months while women can do that once in four months. Many simply do not know about the need for blood. We are uniting to spread the lifesaving message, that any healthy person can be a donor. In fact, stemming mostly from ignorance, such misconceptions prevail that it’s difficult to convince even educated people about the virtues of blood donation. A common misconception is that fresh whole blood is required for transfusion. But the fact is that with the availability of blood components such as packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma and platelets concentrates, the concept of fresh whole blood has vanished. In fact, there is no difference between one-day old and 30-day old blood, provided it has been preserved properly. For the uninitiated, blood is treated like a raw material at blood banks and once the sample is collected, it is separated into red blood cells (which can be stored up to 42 days), platelets (can be stored up to 5-6 days) and plasma (which can be stored up to one year). The key issue here is how well the products have been stored. Technical issues apart, the most important thing which people should understand, is that blood donation is a very safe and healthy practice. Donating blood involves preliminary health check-up, screening for infection markers and blood group and knowledge about the health history of an individual.Interestingly studies have proved, blood donation reduces the chances of a heart attack because it thins out the blood. Actually, 70-80 ml of red blood cells get destroyed on their own every 120 days, and the bone marrow manufactures new ones. So, donating blood in no way interferes with your body system.

As part of National Blood Donation Celebration we have planned various programs to draw the public’s attention to voluntary blood donation and to increase the public’s awareness as to the need for regular donations in blood products and encourage current and potential donors to give blood on a regular basis.

Curtain raiser events

We have planned various Curtain raiser events like the following:

Blood Donation Rally from RMS Thampanoor to Gandhi Park Eastfort
Promotion through Big FM Radio-F.M. Radio will make several announcements about the importance of the day, throughout the proceeding week.

Intimation about VBD rally to 5000 subscribers of mobile phones
A person dressed in a special designed dress with VBD messages will distribute educational brochures & pamphlets in connection with promotion of blood donation.
TALK Shows at various TV Channels
Mega Blood Donation Camp at Techno park on 30th September
Repeat regular blood donors meeting
Distribution of IEC Materials, Posters, VBD leaflets to Colleges and Schools
Use of mass-media like news papers, periodicals, radio and TV to promote VBD with news items, feature articles, health columns , health program of TV Channels and announcements through Radio
All Kerala Essay, Poster, Banner and Slogan Competition
Display of banners with VBD messages at prominent places

School Education Program on VBD in the month of September
Introduction of /State level Awards for Donor Organizations
Scrolling of VBD Messages through Display boards at Kannakakunnu
VBD Messages though Reliance Mobile Phones
Hoardings
Distribution of VBD leaflets through nationalized banks petrol pumps and major shopping complexes
Special feature will be published in the daily news paper on the eve of “National Blood Donation Day’’ 30th September
Distribution of IEC Materials to the Blood Banks, so that they can arrange some program like; awareness campaign, discussion, meeting and others.
Convincing people working at different places to wear T-shirts with Blood Donation messages and promote blood donation through Hyper Markets, cash registers in supermarkets, Margin free shops etc.

Formal Function

The formal function is planned on 29th September at 10.00 am at Vyloipilly Samskrithi Bhavan ,Nantencode,Trivandrum. Ms Radha Unni the Chief General Manager of SBI shall inaugurate the function.Mr Mathur K Nanjunda the General Manager of SBT shall preside. Mr C Balagopal The Managing Director of TERUMO PENPOL will deliver the keynote address. TERUMO PENPOL Chairman Mr.Yoshiaki Shiarishi will give away awards to the Best organizations promoting voluntary blood donation. At the Valedictory function Ms T Radhamoni the Vice Chairperson of Vylopilly Samskrithi Bhavan shall reward the winners of VBD Competitions

A Rally to promote Blood Donation

We are also planning to organize a Rally from RMS Thampanoor to Gandhi Park, East fort. To promote voluntary blood donation Radio Jockey Kidilom Firoz of Big 92.7 Fm shall perform a Stage Show at Gandi Park East fort, Trivandrum. Ms Usha Titus the Project Director of KSACS will flag off the rally.

DONATE BLOOD AND SAVE LIVES...

DEAR ALL,

DONATE YOUR ONE UNIT BLOOD

AND

SAVE THREE LIVES..

SAMCHANDRAN.