BHUBANESWAR: There has been a rise of 70 per cent in voluntary blood donation in the State through the ‘Club 18’ initiative of the Orissa branch of the Indian Red Cross Society. The initiative was started in October 1, 2009 to encourage youngsters to donate blood from the age of 18. Accordingly, all the Red Cross blood banks in the State were asked to open Club 18 units to bring in more young donors. As part of the campaign, the blood banks mobilised youngsters attaining the age of 18 and enrolled them as members of Club 18. “You can vote at the age of 18. You can get a driving licence at the age of 18. You can donate blood at the age of 18 as a celebration of attaining adulthood and enfranchised citizenship,” reads the Red Cross campaign. Honorary secretary of State branch of Indian Red Cross Society, Mangala Mohanty said that this was for the first time in the 53-year-old history of Central Red Cross Blood Bank in Cuttack that this year, thalassemia patients were given blood without any replacement donors at the Blood Bank with the problem of blood shortage being met through voluntary donation under ‘Club 18’ initiative. “Since beginning of the Club 18 initiative, there has been a steady rise in voluntary blood donation and we are working to motivate and retain young blood donors in the long run,” said Mohanty. For retaining the donors, small gestures are being made like wishing the donors on their birthdays, sending them greeting cards besides providing them with blood donation certificates, badges and caps. The Red Cross is planning to rope in music bands which would take the Club 18 initiative to various colleges, said Mohanty. This apart, the State branch has planned to open four more blood component separation units in Orissa in the next two years and two more blood banks this year. The Indian Red Cross Society has 56 blood banks in the State. “Besides enrolling more young donors, our focus is now on rational use of blood,” Mohanty said. He further said the ambitious e-governance of Red Cross blood banks project is also scheduled for a trial run in October. “Through this initiative, one can know about the presence of blood and blood components in any of the Red Cross blood banks in the State through Internet and SMS facility,” Mohanty said. Meanwhile, under the Club 18 campaign, 50 units of blood were collected at a voluntary blood donation camp organised by members of Youth Fraternity for Kalinga in association with Red Cross branch on Sunday.
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