A large number of people, especially youngsters, turned up to donate blood for children suffering from thalassaemia at the request of Omair-Sana Foundation (OSF) after the welfare organisation made an online appeal.
Pakistanis, compared with other nations, are largely reluctant to donate blood, but in the month of Ramazan, donations drop so low that hospitals and organisations treating blood-related diseases resort to making appeals and sending out SOS calls to the public to save lives of children who depend on these blood donations.
“It was heartening to see so many people turn up for blood donation. It is the second time in the month of Ramazan where over 120 people donated blood after breaking their fast,” said OSF General Secretary Dr Saqib Ansari.
Talking to The News, Dr Ansari mentioned that people used to avoid donating blood in Ramazan, considering it an unhealthy practice, but as a result of growing awareness through social media, citizens of all ages were coming forward.
“We were not expecting such a large turnout of people after Iftar, but this trend is quite healthy and welcoming for thousands of children who are suffering from thalassaemia and other blood-related diseases and need blood transfusion once or twice a month to stay healthy.”
Thalassaemia minor
As per conservative estimates, around eight to 10 million carry thalassaemia minor, Dr Ansari said. He mentioned that when a girl and a boy who are carriers of thalassaemia minor marry each other, it leads to the possibility that their children would develop thalassaemia major and would remain dependent on blood donations for life.
“To avoid this, we urge the authorities to screen the population and mention their thalassaemia status on their computerised national identity cards (CNICs) and not allow two individuals with thalassaemia minor to marry each other,” he demanded.
Dr Ansari said that affordable medical tests were available to screen people with thalassaemia minor and those who tested positive could be asked to undergo another specialised test to confirm whether they actually were Thalassaemia minor or not.
“If a boy’s haemoglobin level remains less than 11-12 g/dl, he is suspected of being thalassaemia minor,” he added. “People should have their blood screened, especially youngsters, before their marriages,” he advised.
Donors at the OSF donation camp said they were unaware that they could donate blood after breaking their fast and claimed that they felt no adverse effects after donating a bag of blood. “I thought it would be unhealthy to donate blood in the month of Ramazan, but today I learnt that it was not only a healthy practice but also sadqa,” said a donor named Salman Ali.
Several other donors said they would not only register themselves as permanent blood donors with welfare organisations but also convince their family members, friends and colleagues to donate blood so that the lives of people dependent on these donations could be saved.
OSF officials, including Obaid Hashmi, Nazir-ul-Hasan, Akbar Ali as well as several haematologists, doctors and technicians were also present at the camp to guide the volunteers on the benefits of blood donation.
