Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals (IAH) organised a national seminar on ‘Promotion of Voluntary Blood Donation’ to commemorate World Blood Donor Day 2013 at India Habitat Centre. The theme of the seminar was ‘Every blood donation is a gift of life’. The seminar was organised in association with State Blood Transfusion Council in NCT Delhi and NGO, Blood for All (B4A). The event was attended by Dr Surinder Singh, Director- NIB and Dr Sunil D Khaparde Director-Blood Safety NACO.
Dr RN Makroo, Director Department of Transfusion Medicine Apollo Hospital said, “Blood donation is a noble cause as it saves life, but most often their contribution goes unrecognised. We take this day as an opportunity to facilitate the donors, who are in true sense ‘National Heroes’ for their contribution to the society.”
The day was marked by a colourful cultural programme including a skit by staff members of Department of Transfusion Medicine and song performance by thalassemic children.
Through their performances the children stressed upon the dire necessity of donating blood.
Dr Makroo also spoke on the need for availability of blood components as opposed to whole blood. He also urged blood banks to improve the blood safety by incorporating latest testing technologies like Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) besides serological ELISA tests to ensure blood safety and reduce the chances of infection.
EH News Bureau
