Association of Voluntary Blood Donors, West Bengal (AVBDWB) organised National Meet on Total Voluntary Blood Programme - Vision 2020 from 23-25th January, 2015 at Kolkata. This is one meet which is looked forward to by voluntary organisation from all over the country. Sankalp India Foundation participated in this meet for the first time and was also invited to share speak on the topic of management of rare blood groups.
There was quite a blend of topics and speakers from various backgrounds. Beside the usual ones, topics like rational use of blood and prevention of thalassemia were very interesting. There was a talk about the role that voluntary organisation can plan in recruitment of bone marrow donors.
We got an opportunity to meet with several individuals working in various corners of the country - many of whom we had only interacted over phone and on social networking platform. It is interesting how within the same focus area of voluntary blood donation there is so much diversity in beliefs, practices and the work the voluntary organisation choose to do. It was very inspiring to know that in some parts of the nation the donor motivators have been able to reach out to the people in rural areas as well, and recruit them as regular blood donors. Through the presentations we also got to understand that the standard for quality and safety expectations varied across blood banks in different parts of the country.
Some places were better equipped and a little way forward on road to voluntary blood donation. The problems are different and the effort needed to get things right are also different in various parts of the country. In meetings like this one, often there is discussion on the approaches as well as the final goals which are being sought through those approaches. While the variation in approaches is completely understandable, the lack of coherence in terms of the ultimate approach is disturbing. 100% voluntary blood donation is a goal, which if reached, there should be no difference in the way the patient get's access to blood and glucose. It should not be the patient's responsibility to organise for donors for blood. Unfortunately there seemed to be little agreement on this as well with a lot of defence being offered for the approach of getting donation done when there is a need.
Coming to the topic of "Total Voluntary Blood Donation - Vision 2020", though a lot was discussed, we believe there still remain roadblocks beyond increasing voluntary blood donation. The legal and organisational framework of the country as of date is such that even in places where there is no dearth of donors, some blood banks continue to demand replacement. There is a need for a strong voice raised on behalf of the patients and the donors to awaken the legislature and the executive to implement what was laid out as the vision for the country in voluntary blood donation policy. There is a need to look into these aspects as well on the prestigious national forums like this meet.
We presented our experience on Bombay blood group. We shared our findings so far as the management of rare blood groups is concerned. We also shared how voluntary organisations across the country can work together for systematic management of rare blood groups. Our talk was very well received by the audience and there was good interaction on the topic on and off stage.
The conference offered to us a new perspective, loads of new friends and a great experience. We thank AVBDWB for the well organised conference, the great hospitality and the opportunity.