The Thakurpukur cancer hospital has appealed for blood saying the country is “not as Independent” as it was last year and people should come forward to help fellow citizens with blood.

Hospitals like the one in Thakurpukur are suffering from severe shortage of blood because of the Covid pandemic. People are wary of donating blood in this situation and camps are few because of the distancing norms announced as a precaution against Covid-19. As a result, many blood banks are running dry.

Arnab Gupta, the director of Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre & Research Institute, in Thakurpukur, made a social media post on Wednesday: “As we approach Independence Day, we realise that we are not as Independent as were last year. Along with the Corona pandemic where many people have fallen victims, what we are now seeing all over Bengal and many parts of India, is the severe scarcity of blood. We would request you to kindly come forward and save your fellow countrymen, especially children by donating blood. Many are afflicted with cancer, thalassaemia and now dengue. You may contact any local blood bank/hospital. That’s the best way to pay tribute to our freedom fight-ers and to Mother India….Of course one has to be fit to donate.”

The blood crisis at his institute is delaying cancer treatment, Gupta told The Telegraph.

The hospital caters to many underprivileged people, including children, who are treated at reduced costs or the hospital arranges for funds for them through sponsors to make treatment available to them.

Many of the patients come from districts and it is even more difficult for them to arrange for blood.

“Our average monthly blood collection used to be 600 units before the lockdown, which could just meet our requirements. Now the collection is less than 200 units per month, resulting in a huge shortfall. Availability in other blood banks is scarce, too,” said Gupta.

Rehearsal for the Independence Day parade on Red Road on Thursday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

The reserves are constantly depleting and on Thursday, the institute had just seven units of B-positive and two units of A-positive in its blood bank.

This newspaper had on Monday reported that a sharp drop in the number of blood donation camps because of the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted in a crisis in availability of blood in Calcutta as well as the rest of Bengal.

Last Sunday, long queues were seen in front of counters of several blood banks in the city. Most people in the queues were told by blood bank officials that there was no guarantee they would get blood even after waiting for hours.

Ever since the pandemic started, the number of blood donation camps has been decreasing. The situation worsened as time passed, according to officials of multiple blood banks. Blood bank officials say almost all banks are supplying blood only if those in need bring donors.

Gupta said that in the Thakurpukur hospital, the blood was separated into three components — RBC, platelet and plasma. The treatment in the hospital, he said, includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

“For any major cancer surgery, we need to have a back-up of blood, in the absence of which treatment is being postponed. Blood parameters have to be corrected for anybody who has low haemoglobin and low platelet for any further treatment. And blood is required for that,” said Gupta.

“Children with blood cancer are more susceptible because there is a chance of internal bleeding with low platelet count,” he said.

Gupta suggested that blood donation camps could be organised with small groups of people and by maintaining the distancing norms.