Blood on the Tracks, not in the Bank

Pranno runs across the fields with a tiffin box for her farmer father, busy working on his land close to the international border. Suddenly,...

Pranno runs across the fields with a tiffin box for her farmer father, busy working on his land close to the international border. Suddenly, the Pakistani rangers open fire. A stray bullet hits Pranno on her leg, but as the barrage of bullets continues, no one can come to her rescue immediately. By the time they do, she has lost a huge quantity of blood. She is nearly unconscious by the time she reaches the health centre, but doctors plead unavailability of blood and refer her to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu. On the way, she breathes her last.

BOMB blasts, firings, grenade attacks, shellings are part of the daily routine in Jammu and Kashmir but, when people die, the cause, more often than not, is the non-availability of blood. The six main blood banks in the state — three in Kashmir, two in Jammu city and one in Doda district — simply cannot take care of the needs of the one crore people of a strife-torn state; the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri and border areas Uri and Kupwara have no blood banks at all.

‘‘The situation hasn’t changed much since 1971, when I, then a student of class XI, had rushed to a forward post in Poonch during the height of the war, to donate blood,’’ says Dr T R Raina, now in-charge of the blood bank at SMGS Hospital, Jammu. ‘‘Even now, volunteers are the mainstay.’’

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Ghulam Hussain, a resident of Jallas, Poonch, would agree. When he was injured in stray firing, it was a young man from Poonch who donated the blood that saved his life. His daughter Romana, however, could not be saved; none of the volunteers had the O-negative blood she needed.

The volunteers, in fact, are a well-organised lot. ‘‘Grievously injured people referred to the GMCH often fail to survive the 250-km to Jammu. That is why we focus on motivating people to donate blood to the injured on the spot,’’ says Anil Padha, chairman of Young Blood Association (YBA).’’

As part of their motivation campaign, the YBA had Lata Mangeshkar release an audio cassette Katre Katre Mein Tu last year. Unlike most such efforts, this one found a popular resonance, so much so that school children can be caught humming ‘Rakt daan kar rakt daan kar, maut se joojh rahe manav ko nav jeevan daan kar (Donate blood and give new life)’.

According to the YBA, in the months after the release of the cassette, 2,000 donors have signed up to donate blood. ‘‘Now we are aiming to enroll 10,000 donors by the year-end,’’ says Padha.

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‘‘The Nirankari Sanstha, will start playing this cassette during their religious functions,’’ says Dr Raina, who is also associated with the YBA. Some doctors are also trying to use the Friday prayers to spread the message.

Money, but no Timeframe

Excerpts from an interview with Dr Jasbir Singh, Director, J&K Health Department, Jammu

Isn’t there a dire need for more blood banks?
Yes, we require more blood banks. We have recently provided about Rs 4 lakh to each of the district hospitals so that they get equipped with blood banks. (He refused to commit to any timeframe for the project.)

Which are the areas where we don’t have blood banks?
At present we don’t have blood banks in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. But we will provide the facilities there very soon.

Sohat sort of help can the injured there expect?
We have blood transfusion facilities. I give credit to the people of the state.

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But what if the blood groups do not match?
Normally, we face such problems with people with negative blood groups. We shift such cases to Jammu.

But Jammu is 10 hours away from Poonch and seven hours from Rajouri.
Some patients may have died, but normally they manage to reach Jammu safely.

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