“People have various perceptions which keep them from donating blood. Men fear that it reduces potency and libido. There is also a misconception that blood donation induces weakness,” said Dr Rupinder, Deputy Transfusion Officer at Transfusion Medicine in Christian Medical College and Hospital. She says a healthy male can donate blood around four times a year while a healthy female can donate twice a year.

Dr Amarjit Kaur, Head of Transfusion Medicine at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), said, “While the everyday consumption of blood units or blood components is around 120, the number of units collected is less than 100. Besides, around 90 per cent of these are collected from replacement donors”.

“We always make an honest attempt to create awareness about the need for voluntary blood donation. One of the plus points is that a voluntary blood donor does not usually hide his previous or present ailments, while a replacement blood donor may do that,” she said.

At CMCH, the consumption of blood units is estimated to be more than 60 per day while the collection is somewhere around 40 units.

“The sad part is that it is mostly the replacement donors that contribute to the blood capacity of the hospital. We try to hold camps for voluntary blood donation but the response is poor,” said Dr Rupinder.

According to an estimate, the required number of units of blood per year is more than a crore.