Blood Donation: A Noble Way to Make the World a Better Place

Swami Vivekananda has said that Service to Man is Service to God. When you go out of the way to help someone, it becomes a service to the divine. Blood donation is one of the highest values because it helps to save three lives at a time and improves us as human beings.

Several government organizations, NGOs and private organizations conduct Blood Donation Camps time by time to inform people about this honorable deed.

India is the youngest nation in the world, with a population of over 1.3 billion, but we still frequently have a blood shortage. There is still a long way to go, despite the fact that the efforts of the government and private organizations have closed the supply-demand gap for blood across the country.

The first of October is observed in India as National Voluntary Blood Donation Day to raise awareness of the importance of blood donation. In addition, hospitals and NGOs run a number of awareness campaigns and workshops.

Blood cannot be manufactured in a lab, thus only kind donors can supply what is needed. Anyone in excellent health between the ages of 18 and 65 may donate blood.

What are the criteria to donate blood:

Blood donation is a noble service and whoever is in a healthy physical state can donate. One can visit blood banks or participate in Blood Donation camps and donate blood voluntarily.

The Ministry of Health, Government of India has created some guidelines to ensure a safe and secure blood donation:

● The donor should be in good health.

● His/her age must be between 18–65.

● The donor should be free from any transmittable disease.

● The person should not weigh less than 50 kg.

● He/she should not be suffering from diabetes, cardiac arrest, hypertension, cancer or epilepsy.

● The donor should be free from HIV.

● One should avoid donating blood if he has undergone treatment for rabies or has been vaccinated for Hepatitis B in the last month.

● If you have consumed alcohol in the past 24 hours, you cannot donate blood.

● The donor should drink water before donating blood because it helps in bringing the blood volume level back to normal after donation.

● The donor should not be suffering from severe asthma.

How many days it takes to recover the blood after donation:

One can donate blood after every 56 days. After the donation, the blood volume in the body which is known as plasma gets replaced within 48 hours. On average, it takes 4–8 weeks to replenish the amount of RBC. The best thing is that you do not feel any physical change during the entire process.

An average adult has 10–12 pints of blood and during donation, only 1 pint is taken. After the process, the body starts replacing all the cells that are lost during blood donation. The human body generates around 2 million Red Blood Cells every second therefore it does not affect the body. After you donate blood, your body works to create new cells thus your blood gets refreshed.

Blood donation is a noble deed which should be practiced by everyone. It does not cost you much but it will earn you a lot of blessings, good health, and above everything- happiness. By showing one simple gesture, you can benefit three different people and apparently bring happiness to three different families. After all, we all are interconnected to each other; thus, we eventually help ourselves through indirect ways.