Bengaluru: Four lakh students could soon form one of Karnataka’s largest organised pools of blood donors, with Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) planning to create a digital repository that can connect those willing to donate for patients in need.Called ‘Raktha Kosh’, the proposed platform will tap into RGUHS’s vast student network spread across the state. The idea is simple: when a student enrols in a college, if they are eligible and willing to donate, can register themselves as donors on the platform. When a particular blood group is urgently required or there is a shortage in a locality, registered donors will receive a notification and they can proceed to the nearest blood bank or hospital. The platform will also connect them with district officials, local ambulance and emergency services so that they can deliver it to the needy immediately.Additionally, it will also look at bringing all the registries under one roof. “Blood donors registries are being maintained by various NGO, health science institutions and voluntary donors’ organisations. However, they are spread unevenly across the state. In addition, it is also observed that availability of rare blood group donors is also not maintained in all the blood donors’ registries. Keeping these things in view, it is proposed not only to establish blood donor’s registry at RGUHS, but also integrate all the blood banks, registries as one integrated registry so that the availability of blood at emergency situation, particularly rare blood groups is ensured,” said vice chancellor Bhagvan BC.“With the increase in the incidence of thalassemia, road accidents, and the enhanced need for blood donations during emergencies, it is difficult to find out the blood donors during such situations. At the same time, there is also an issue of wastage of blood, with it crossing the expiry. This repository will help in that cause too,” he added.The recent syndicate meeting also unanimously approved the idea. Approval from competent authorities will be taken prior to the establishment of the registry. “Our idea is to build a software to manage the repository. Our biggest strength is our human resource. Our presence is there in every district. We will leverage that,” the VC said.
