Hundreds of litres of blood, which blood banks collect continuously through blood donation camps, have been wasted. After drawing the blood, its validity is only 35 days. 1298 bottles of blood have been wasted in the state in the five months from January to May due to expiry of the deadline. There is more loss of red cells.
Blood banks and State Blood Transfusion Council organise various blood donation camps to ensure timely availability of blood to patients. A large amount of blood is collected through these blood donation camps. Blood collected by blood banks is processed and stored.
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Collected blood and processed red cells have a shelf life of 35 days. Then these blood and red cells become unusable. So it is necessary to use them in time. As many as 1298 bottles of blood have been wasted in the state this year in the five months from January to May due to expiry of 35 days. That means almost 231 litres of blood has been wasted. It contains 138 bottles of blood and 1160 bottles of red cells isolated from this blood.
Although the amount of blood loss is less compared to last year, the amount of red cell loss is comparatively more. In the state in 2023, 1,684 bottles of red cells were wasted, while this year, 1,160 bottles were wasted till May this year. State Blood Transfusion Council has given this information to RTI filed by RTI activist Chetan Kothari.
Blood loss decreased over ten years
In the last 10 years, State Blood Transfusion Councils and Blood Banks have succeeded in reducing blood wastage before the 35-day life limit of blood and its red cells. Since 2014, the amount of blood loss has decreased by 80 percent. In 10 years, 10,495 litres of blood i.e. 49,064 bottles of blood have been wasted.
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