Jharkhand to hire agency for statewide blood donation camps

Ranchi: The Jharkhand government is formulating a new strategy to streamline blood donation and management across the state. A high-level meeting, chaired by Additional Chief Secretary Ajay Kumar Singh, Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Department, deliberated on issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to appoint an agency to organise regular blood donation camps.

The proposed agency will conduct systematic blood donation drives across the state, assist in blood bank operations, and improve the overall collection process. Officials highlighted that Jharkhand requires nearly 1.5 to 2 lakh units of blood annually, making it a priority for the government to ensure consistent availability. With the discontinuation of the replacement blood system, reliance on voluntary donations and camps has increased significantly, news agency UNI reported.

Also Read:Dr Shabnam Bahar Barbhuiya wins National Award for transforming blood donation awareness

The Additional Chief Secretary directed that each camp should aim to collect at least 100 units of blood. He also suggested measures, including the procurement of dedicated blood collection vehicles, the establishment of collection units in districts, and the deployment of necessary staff. The agency will be responsible for organizing camps at colleges, offices, and Panchayat levels, along with large-scale drives in paramilitary forces such as the CRPF and other security establishments.

To ensure transparency and monitoring, instructions were issued to capture donor photographs linked with barcodes and to digitally upload blood testing data directly from machines to a centralized platform. The development of a dedicated portal was also proposed to prevent irregularities. The meeting also emphasized strengthening blood management systems in view of diseases like sickle cell anaemia. 

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Jharkhand government has taken a major step towards strengthening the state's public health infrastructure with the decision to establish 245 Block Public Health Units (BPHUs) across all Assembly constituencies in every district, at a total cost of Rs 203.35 crore.

Also Read:360 volunteers donate blood in PGI Chandigarh