The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among antenatal women has dropped from 0.27% to 0.18% in Tamil Nadu, according to the findings of the recent HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2019.
Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar announced the findings of the survey during a programme held in line with the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day observed on October 1.
The Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) and the Tamil Nadu State Blood Transfusion Council organised a webinar on “Emerging challenges in blood transfusion services” on Tuesday. They were working to raise awareness about regular non-remunerated voluntary blood donation across the State, according to a release.
The Minister released the blood donation information, communication and education posters and launched an online chatbot named “Punch Paati” that would serve as a tool to allay doubts on HIV and blood transfusion services.
He lauded the efforts of the blood bank team and organisers of voluntary donation camps for maintaining sufficient quantity of blood in all hospitals.
During the COVID-19 period, a total of 1,77,400 units of blood were collected across the State and 1,74,500 units were transfused to the patients in need. The monthly average of 34,000 units of blood were maintained in the State during the pandemic, the release said.
Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, Project Director of TANSACS Deepak Jacob and Joint Director of Blood Safety Subash were present.
