India celebrates 1st October as National Voluntary Blood Donation Day (NVBDD) every year to share the need and importance of the blood in the life of a person. It was first started in the year 1975 through the Indian Society of Blood Transfusion and Immunohaematology.
The first blood bank was established in Kolkata, West Bengal in March 1942 at the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health and was managed by the Red Cross.
Now the Union Health Ministry is planning to launch a nation-wide mega voluntary blood donation drive, called the ‘Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav’ from 17 th September to October 1, the NBDD, aiming to collect one lakh units of blood.
The Ministry has issued a letter to all the States and Union Territories, requesting to organise the campaign in regional languages.
All the States and Union Territories have been requested to circulate information about the drive to all medical colleges, hospitals, blood banks and other stakeholders.
“The donors of blood can register their name on the Arogya Setu portal under ‘Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav’ which invites people to donate blood and be a part of Prime Minister’s vision for humanity”, said a Health Ministry official.
A live dashboard will be operationalised on the e-rakthakosha web portal to track the number of collected blood units in each State and Union Territories.
The drive hopes to create a database of donors who can be called at emergency time.
