Blood banks are running dry for want of donors. The lockdown necessitated by the outbreak of COVID-19 has stopped blood donation camps and flow of free blood from donors to these banks. The worst hit by the hindrance in the cycle is people suffering from thalassemia.
The inherited blood disorder leaves less oxygen-carrying protein (haemoglobin) and fewer red blood cells in the body and the patients need regular blood transfusions.
Eighteen-year-old Zaiba has inherited this disorder and needs blood transfusion every fortnight. This time, it took 25 days for her father to find blood. “The empanelled blood banks that regularly supply blood to the patients have no stocks and I had to shell out ₹1,700 from my pocket for it,” rues Zaiba’s father who works for a scrap dealer. “I am only hoping that the lockdown will end soon. Otherwise, with my meagre income, it will be very difficult to procure blood for my daughter,” he says with concern, and explains how Zaiba starts showing symptoms of dizziness, shortness of breath and fast heart beat if there is a delay in blood transfusion.
Drugs not available
Vivek is all of seven years and has inherited this ailment. In normal days, Vivek’s grandfather, Srinivasa Rao, a lorry driver from Pamidimukkala mandal near Vuyyuru, gets free supply of blood from the Nagarjuna Hospital. “This time, the hospital did not have fresh stocks of blood as there are no donors. My child needs blood transfusion by April 20. I can only pray for the lockdown to be lifted by then,” says Mr. Rao. With great difficulty, he could reach Vijayawada to buy medicines for the boy but the medical stores had no stocks of the medicine he was looking for, he says.
The government medical facilities are very limited for regular treatment of this condition. A stem cell transplant is the only treatment that can cure thalassemia but only a small number of people are able to find a good donor match and have the risky procedure.
Ray of hope
Sarath Babu Voggu is one such fortunate person who could find a donor for his daughter who suffered this condition, in 2005. Subsequently, he established SAPTHA Foundation (Support and Awareness for People with Thalassemia) and a hospital called Thalassemia Daycare Transfusion Therapy Centre on Dornakal Road. The patients get their blood transfusion done at this centre.
“The lockdown has wreaked havoc with thalassemia patients who are unable to undergo this process needed for their survival,” says Mr. Sarath Babu, informing that he is in talks with the District Medical and Health Officer for permission to allow him to engage a vehicle to pick up and drop the patients of thalassemia for blood transfusion during the lockdown period.
