All blood banks require you to replenish blood you take from them to ensure there is no shortage. Simply put, if you take two units of blood, you have to donate two units to replace it. " Most people don't want to donate or cannot get enough people to donate blood when the need arises, so they simply pay professional donors to donate for them," says Aggarwal. Though all the blood donated is tested for HIV, a person who is infected but still in the "window period" - a period when the infected status does not show up in tests - will not test positive. Since a window period usually lasts for three months after exposure to HIV, infected blood can unknowingly be given to a person. "In India, 0.3 percent donors are HIV positive, so voluntary donors who are screened regularly should be encouraged to donate to ensure blood safety," says Dr R.N.Makroo, Hon. Director Rotary Blood Bank.

"It is safe, in fact, healthy to donate blood regularly and a person who donates blood every three months is at one-third the risk of a heart attack than a person who doesn't," says Aggarwal. "Donating blood just takes 10 minutes, and that's all you need to save a life," he adds. All blood is tested for venereal disease, jaundice and HIV/AIDS.

Rational use of blood also figures high on Aggarwal's priorities. "We're going for 100 percent blood components use, where two to three patients can benefit from a single unit of blood," he says. Each unit is divided into red blood cells (for anaemia), platelets (thrombocytopemia) and fresh frozen plasma (for coagulation disorders) so that all its components are used. "While blood donors can donate four times a year, people donating platelets through the cell separator can donate every two weeks," says Aggarwal. While Rotary is targeting building a base of 30,000 units within a year, it plans to increase collections to 100,00 units in four years.

Soon, its base of 75,000 members and 1,800 clubs across the country will ensure that for service charges between Rs 500 to Rs 600, you'll get blood that can't get safer. And the poor needn't despair: they will get blood absolutely free, with no charges for processing it as well.

DOS & DON'TS OF BLOOD DONATION

YOU CAN DONATE BLOOD IF:

• You are between 18 and 60 years.
• Your weigh over 45 kg.
• Your haemoglobin is over 12.5 gms.
• Your last blood donation was three months earlier.

• You've had a major surgery in the last six months.
• You are a heart patient.
• You are a hypertensive, epileptic or diabetic.
• You have a history of TB, cancer, kidney disease, bleeding tendencies, anaemia, venereal disease, malaria, mumps or measles.
• You've had cold/fever in the past one week.
• You are on antibiotics or other medication.
• You've been vaccinated in the last 24 hours.
• You've had a miscarriage or have been pregnant or lactating in the past one year.
• You have a history of alcoholism, drug addiction or have had unsafe sex with unknown partners.
• You had fainting attacks during the last blood donation.

"It's because Delhi falls short of the annual requirement of blood by almost 1,50,000 units. There was an urgent need for a voluntary blood bank," explains Sudarshan Agarwal, who is the president of the Rotary Blood Bank Project. The 16,000sq ft airconditioned bank, which hopes to store to least 50,000 Units of blood by the end of the year, will be operational shortly. The team running the bank hopes to collect blood from voluntary donors coming to them, as well as donation camps organised at educational and corporate institutions, which they will organise frequently.

To run a bank entirely on Voluntary donations, however, promises to be a challenging task, given the myths associated with donating blood, as well as a general public apathy towards it. Think of it, when was the last time you donated blood?

"We're mounting a huge publicity campaign, targeted at redressing myths and educating people about blood donations," says Agarwal. The tireless Agarwal, a former member of the National Human Rights Commission, has managed to bring enough people around to support the cause, including sundry politicians and industrialists who have together pitched in the Rs 5 crore for the project.

Myths surrounding blood donation include the idea that the 'loss of blood' might make a person weak. Asha Bazaz, Chief Technical Officer of the Rotary Blood Bank, poo-poohs the misconception. "In fact, a healthy person who donates blood once in three months is at less risk of heart attack than someone who doesn't" she informs.

Of course, all the blood that comes into the bank will be tested for transmissible diseases such as hepatitis A, B and C and HIV, especially since infected blood continues to be the scourge of blood banks. Also, upto 85 percent of the blood will be stored as components: red blood cells, platelets and fresh frozen plasma. Each component has a different life span - RBCs last 35 days at temperatures between 4-6 deg C, platelets have to be kept in an agitator at 22 deg C and last for three to five days, while plasma stored between - 30 degree Centigrade and - 86 degree Centigrade can last up to a year. "One unit of blood can save four lives in this way, and we are trying to encourage doctors to ask for blood components instead of whole blood," explains Agarwal.

The equipment for blood testing, separation and storage is imported and extremely expensive, and it has been installed keeping in mind the long-term goals of the bank. "We hope to store 1 lakh unit of blood in four years," says Malti Chibber, who is working as an advisor to the bank. Plans are also afoot to build a network of clinics and satellite stations around the city, and eventually around the country, so that no person dies due to shortage of blood.