Karnataka: Better treatment access to AIDS hit

Bengaluru: As part of World Blood Donor's Day, the State Minister for Medical Education, Dr Sharan Prakash Patil, launched ‘Treat All Strategy’ to ensures timely treatment of all patients diagnosed with AIDS in the state.

For the AIDS affected, Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) brings down the rate at which Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) multiplies within the body. The state launch took place at Victoria Hospital.

Apheresis machine
The minister also inaugurated the new apheresis machine, which enables separation of blood constituents and help in donation of platelets. According to Dr R. Sree Latha, Professor and HoD of IHBT Department, Victoria Hospital, "With the monsoon entering Karnataka and the subsequent rise in dengue cases, the major hazard faced by the patients is the deficiency in platelet count. The Apheresis machine makes separation of a particular blood constituent possible, in the current case, platelets," she said.

The machine can be accessed by everyone at a phenomenally low price compared to private hospitals, which charge around Rs 15,000-30,000.

The Victoria hospital also conducted a blood donation drive and around 116 donors came forward, which included a number of medical and nursing students. The hospital also launched an awareness campaign in this regard.

Michael Baburaj, a donor, said more awareness programmes should helped to sensitize the rural youth. “The government should focus on rural areas to make them self-sufficient in terms of blood banks and donations,” he said.

Medical student Shradha Zutshi pointed out that awareness programmes should be designed to break myths regarding blood donation. "The donors should realise that donating blood leads to regenerating new blood which would help them stay healthy. Encouraging regular blood donors is also another way to spread the good message," she said. 

Medical students from around the city also participated in the awareness skit competition and poster-making competition held at the venue.

Blood donors feted
Lions Club of Bangalore Sanjaynagar and Bangalore Sanjaynagar Lions Charitable Trust felicitated active donors at a public function on Sunday. "Every month about 75 people on our database respond and donate blood on requirement. In addition we hold blood donation camps for various organisations and are instrumental in collecting about 8,000 units of blood annually," said Alphonse Kurian of Lions Club of Bangalore Sanjaynagar.