Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Sept. 18: The residents of Diglipur have demanded for the establishment of a “Blood Bank” with a capacity of 60 Units at the Sub-District Hospital, Diglipur.
Speaking to Andaman Sheekha Daily, a group of youths and veteran people of Diglipur said that the absence of a blood bank in the region has been a longstanding concern, directly affecting the delivery of healthcare service and often putting lives at risk. Currently, Diglipur with a population of approximately 60 to 65 thousand residents relies on three Primary Health Centres (Radha Nagar, Kalighat, and Kishorinagar) and the Sub-District Hospital, Diglipur, for medical care. However, there is no operational blood bank in the entire North & Middle Andaman District which makes it extremely difficult to handle emergencies, trauma cases, maternal complications, and major surgeries, they argued.
It is worth highlighting that the Sub-District Hospital Diglipur, caters to the entire Diglipur Sub-Divison of North Andaman, covering a large rural and island-based population across (Radha Nagar, Kalighat, Kishorinagar, Laxmipur, Shibpur (Lamiyabay), and Ramnagar, Gandhi Nagar & Shanti Nagar, Badmachard) and adjoining villages, the veterans said. The hospital has recently been equipped with an anaesthetist who is actively engaged in surgical procedures, caesarean deliveries, trauma surgeries, and critical care cases; while this has expanded the scope of healthcare services in the region, the absence of a blood bank remains a crucial gap, the youths decried. Many surgical and emergency interventions require immediate access to blood units, without which both patients and doctors face life-threatening risks, they maintained.
The people of Diglipur Sub-Division will be immensely benefited once a blood bank is established in Sub-District Hospital, Diglipur, the youths and the venerable people claimed. The anaesthetist can effectively conduct life saving surgeries and caesarean deliveries with timely access to blood units, while trauma cases, snake bites, road accidents, and other emergencies can be managed locally without delay, they said. Patients will no longer have to travel long distances to Sri Vijaya Puram for blood related needs, thereby reducing physical, emotional, and financial stress, they stressed. Maternal and child care will be largely benefitted; timely transfusion during delivery complications and postpartum haemorrhage can prevent maternal mortality, they opined.
A dedicated blood bank will ensure the availability of a safe and adequate blood supply for the entire population of North Andaman, they emphasised.
The youths and veteran people of Diglipur then reportedly sent a mass petition addressed to the Chief Secretary, A & N Administration with an urge to establish a “Blood Bank” with a capacity of 60 Units at the Sub-District Hospital, Diglipur, they informed.
