Every year India requires about 4 Crore units of blood, out of which only 40 Lakh units of blood are available.
There is no substitute for human blood.
In every two seconds someone needs blood.
A total of 30 million blood components are transfused each year.
Sickle cell patients can require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lives.
More than 1 million are diagnosed with cancer each year. Many of them will need blood, sometimes daily, during their chemotherapy treatment.
A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood
Donating blood is a safe process. A sterile needle is used only once for each donor and then discarded.
Blood donation is a simple four-step process: registration, mini-physical, donation and refreshments.
Every blood donor is given a mini-physical, checking the donor's temperature, blood pressure, pulse and hemoglobin to ensure it is safe for the donor to give blood.
The actual blood donation typically takes less than 10-12 minutes. The entire process, from the time you arrive to the time you leave, takes about an hour and 15 min.
The average adult has about 10 units of blood in his body. Roughly 1 unit is given during a donation.
A healthy donor may donate red blood cells every 60 days, or double red cells every 112 days.
All donated blood is tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and other infectious diseases before it can be transfused to patients.