Mumbai: Kin of thalassemia patients plead for blood

Families of thalassemia patients in Palghar district are running from pillar to post to ensure their loved ones get treatment on time Most people with the disorder need transfusion twice a month and with stocks at blood banks on the verge of drying up their kin are scaredSome relatives told midday that blood banks are demanding replacement donors Those vaccinated canrsquot donate for 14 days after taking the shotAs most families are from underprivileged backgrounds they cannot travel to Mumbai to get blood Local trains are shut for the general public and road journeys are too costly for labourers or daily wage earners said Vaishali Chawhan who runs the Maharashtra Blood Bank MBB near Palghar stationDr Arun Thorat member State Blood Transfusion CouncilNot many donorsAkhand Pratap Mishra who works at a private firm in Boisar has an eightyearold daughter Siddhi who suffers from thalassemia ldquoShe needs O blood every 1520 days We never faced this issue in the past few years but the blood banks are running dry because nobody is coming out to donaterdquo To get blood for her this month I had to request a donor to come with me to the blood bankrdquoA daily wage earner Manoj Gharatrsquos fiveandahalfyearold son Bhavarth needs Ove blood every 15 days ldquoBefore the lockdown I would take my son to KEM hospital for transfusion but I canrsquot travel to Mumbai now as we arenrsquot allowed on trains yet We managed here for some time but now wersquore facing a severe shortagerdquo He added ldquoI have to literally fold my hands before people to donate bloodrdquoTaxi driver Riyaz Shaikh had lost his daughter to thalassemia in 2015 Now he is scared for his 22yearold son Rahil who also has the blood disorder ldquoHe needs A blood twice a month but there is a severe shortage in Palghar I donrsquot want to lose my son because of blood shortagerdquoVaishali Chawhan owner Maharashtra Blood Bank in PalgharTwo donation camps in JulyDr Rajendra Kelkar the additional civil surgeon of Palghar district said two blood donation camps will be organised next month ldquoWe have 93 thalassemia patients excluding the VVCMC area in the district and they regularly need blood transfusion which is done at Jawhar and Dahanu Sub District hospitals Due to the shortage we have planned donation camps at Jawhar on July 2 and at Dahanu on July 4 We are expecting a decent footfallrdquoDr Surekha Walke the medical health officer of VasaiVirar City Municipal Corporation said there are seven thalassemia patients in her jurisdictionDr Rajendra Chawhan a member of Palghar Covid19 Task Force told midday ldquoThere is a severe blood crisis hererdquo He runs a daycare centre for blood transfusion of thalassemia patients at his hospital near Palghar station besides the MBB owned by his wife VaishalildquoWe had been arranging blood so far but we are also almost out of itrdquo said Vaishali adding that the district needs more day care centres for thalassemia patientsHighlighting another problem she said most patients belong to underprivileged families so their kin canrsquot afford to travel to Jawhar from Palghar taluka ldquoMost of them lost their jobs in the lockdown They have no source of income and no contacts to arrange replacement donors They are in a crisisrdquoVaishalirsquos blood bank is also getting inquiries from VasaiVirar and Nalasopara areas ldquoA few patients have also been referred to us from top hospitals in MumbairdquoDr Arun Thorat the assistant director of State Blood Transfusion Council told midday that the state has about 21000 blood bags ldquobut every day there is a requirement of around 4000 of them across the staterdquo Around 30 per cent of blood from the banks is used in emergency cases he addedldquoThere is an urgent need for small blood donation camps to tackle the storage We donrsquot need large camps as the shelf life of a blood bag is only 35 daysrdquo Dr Thorat saidldquoThe shortage of blood is the cascading effect of the pandemic and the vaccination drive While people cannot step out because of the Covid19 threat those vaccinated canrsquot donate blood for 14 days after taking the shotrdquo