Osmania General Hospital, which has been the last hope for treatment of many ailments for decades both for the rich and poor alike in the Hyderabad region till healthcare became a business and started flourishing in the private sector, on Saturday witnessed a rare but inspiring event to encourage blood donation.
Four descendants of the Nizam VII, Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, who established the hospital in 1919 to cater to the healthcare needs of people of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad, went to the hospital and donated blood at the camp organised by an NGO in the hospital. About 80 units of blood was collected from donors during the day-long camp.
“We volunteered to donate blood not only to spread awareness on blood donation but also to encourage the life-saving activity,” said Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, a grandson of the late Nizam VII and president of Nizam Family Welfare Association. “Along with me, three members of my family, the great-grandchildren of the Nizam VII, donated blood at the hospital established by my grandfather,” he told The Hindu.
According to the hospital authorities, about 30 to 50 units of blood is needed every day for patients, particularly emergency and trauma cases, in the hospital. Mr. Najaf Ali Khan said his children were keen on donating blood when he told them about the blood donation drive being held at the OGH established by their great-grandfather. “I took my children to the blood donation camp organised by the Helping Hand Foundation with whom I have been working on various projects to support their endeavour,” he said.
“Along with the great-grandchildren of Nizam VII, other blood donors expressed satisfaction in donating blood at the OGH since the blood and its by-products such as platelets are given free of cost to patients, unlike in private hospitals where everything comes at a cost,” said Mr. Najaf Ali Khan.
About 150 elective surgeries and procedures are performed every day and about one lakh emergencies are attended every year in the OGH, besides handling nearly 50,000 in-patients. The superintendent of the hospital, Dr. B. Nagender, said regular blood donation camps were necessary for the hospital to meet the requirements of patients, who were mostly from economically weaker sections.