With blood donation drives coming to a halt due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown, the situation has thrown up a major challenge to those engaged in the vital task of providing blood transfusion services to patients suffering from thalassemia and other blood disorders.
Sankalpa, a town-based NGO, has been providing free blood transfusion services, including medication (iron chelation therapy) to a little over 200 thalassemia-affected children from various parts of the erstwhile composite Khammam district for the past several years.
The district has an estimated 500 thalassemia patients, mostly children. A major chunk of these children hail from poor families, who cannot afford the cost of regular blood transfusions every month.
The lockdown has brought the blood donation camps, which hitherto used to be held once or twice a month, to a complete halt and the fear triggered by the global pandemic has cast a shadow on voluntary blood donation across the district in the last couple of days, sources said.
“We have been ensuring regular blood transfusions to all the 280 thalassemia-affected children presently enrolled with our organisation at Shiva blood bank with the support of donors, including several members of the medical fraternity and voluntary donors,” said town-based radiologist Rajesh Garge, who is the founder of Sankalpa.
Blood transfusion services are being offered without any break with the help of police, who have issued passes to the children to travel to the blood bank and avail the services during the lockdown period, he said. People can extend their helping hand to thalassemic children by voluntarily donating blood individually in compliance with the lockdown norms to help bridge the gap between the requirement and availability of blood in view of the prevailing situation, he suggested.
In a humane gesture, several journalists and a woman conductor of the TSRTC donated blood for the cause of thalassemic children in adherence to lockdown regulations at Shiva blood bank on Sunday, he added.