Alarming rise in professional Blood donors and its repercussions

Abstract

The department of transfusion medicine, also known as blood bank, is one of the most important parts of a healthcare facility. It provides whole blood as well as different blood components like packed red blood cells (RBCs), thrombocytes, plasma, and coagulation factors to all necessary patient populations. Almost all major surgeries require it and only 2.5 billion of the 5 billion blood units required by our country each year are available. Because human blood cannot be replaced; the gift of life is given through the optimum use of blood and its components. According to the study, the demand for screened blood is very high, and the world requires blood every two seconds. When a patient is admitted to a hospital’s emergency ward, a blood test is almost always performed first and is usually followed by a blood request. Gunshot wounds and unintentional injuries necessitate immediate medical attention, including blood transfusions to compensate for low blood pressure and significant blood loss. A hospital would be considered incomplete without a state-of-the-art blood bank, which significantly facilitates cardiac procedures. Cross-matching and organizing at least five units of packed RBCs is a scheduled step in cardiac surgery. Simultaneously, one donor is cross-matched and tested for all parameters, including infectious markers, and its blood is drawn first when needed during cardiac surgery. After that, the arranged blood units are supplied for transfusion. This happens because freshly drawn blood contains all of the essential components for coagulation. Burns, hemorrhagic disorders, anemia, leukemia, thalassemia, and hemolytic disorders, as well as accidents, all necessitate the use of blood. Patients are transfused with blood on an exchange basis. During an emergency, blood units are released from the blood bank, and replacement blood is drawn from the patient’s relatives. Because of this system of blood unit replacement, many patients’ relatives are hesitant to donate blood or do not have donors for replacement. This gave rise to one of blood banks’ most unethical practices: bringing in paid donors or professional donors to donate blood for patients in exchange for money. This became a major issue for the entire medical community, resulting in the spreading of diseases such as HIV, HBsAg, HCV, SYPHILIS, and blood with low hemoglobin levels being transfused to patients with no clinical benefits.