Election campaigns cast a shadow on blood banks

RAIGANJ: Patients in the surgical wards of Raiganj Government Medical College in North Dinajpur district are facing difficulties because the blood in the blood bank has gone dry.

All blood groups, both positive and negative (A, AB, B, and O), had run out a few days earlier. In cases where blood was needed, patient parties had to find a donor on their own. People from rural areas were desperately searching for donors, going from pillar to post.

Due to shortage of blood, doctors allegedly had to postpone surgeries. This situation arose because no blood donation camps had been held in the last week, as workers of different political parties are busy with Panchayat election campaigns.

Subrata Roy, a patient party, said: “Our patient was admitted two days ago. The doctor recommended a unit of O-positive blood for him. However, the blood bank authorities informed us that they did not have a single unit of O-positive blood. We had to tirelessly search for a blood donor throughout the day. Thankfully, we managed to find one in the end.”

The Secretary of the North Dinajpur unit of the West Bengal Blood Donor Forum, Subrata Sarkar, stated: “Since the declaration of the Panchayat elections, activists from different political parties have been engaged in campaigns. Consequently, an adequate number of blood donation camps were not organised in the district for almost two weeks. To address this crisis, we are continuously raising awareness among the public to come forward and donate blood to patients in different hospitals within the district.”

The vice-principal of Raiganj Government Medical College & Hospital, doctor Priyankar Roy, stated: “At present, patient parties are arranging donors to obtain blood due to the depletion of blood. Since political parties are preoccupied with their election activities, we have approached several social welfare organisations in Raiganj, requesting them to conduct immediate blood donation camps for the sake of emergency patients...”