By Syed Khaled Shahbaaz,
Hyderabad: To the young and healthy, it’s no loss. To the sick it is a hope of life, they say about blood donation. And yet, millions of people are dying every year around the globe, mainly due to inadequate availability of appropriate blood in the event of a demand.
Mindful of the pathetic situation, 600 students and staff of the Sultan ul Uloom Education Society used the perfect eve of World Pharmacists Day to register and voluntarily donate blood for a humanitarian cause at the Blood Donation Camp organized in collaboration with Red Cross. It clearly reflected their vehement determination in contributing to ‘save the life of someone who’s needy’.
Khairtabad MLA Mr Ramchandar Reddy offering fruits to a student after he donated blood. Mr Balasubramanyam IAS, Managing Director Prime Hospitals Dr Satish Reddy, Mr Zafar Javeed and Amir Javeed are also in picture.
Designed by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) in Istanbul in 2010, World Pharmacists Day is celebrated every year to encourage pharmacists from around the world to organize activities that promote and advocate the role of the pharmacist in improving heath in every corner of the world.
In line with this year’s theme is “Access to Pharmacists is access to health”, Dr Anupama Koneru, the Principal of Sultan ul Uloom College of Pharmacy said that Pharmacists are playing a key role in manifold capacities. Their supply chain provides us access to medicines, which is otherwise a major issue in many parts of the world.
She said “Indeed in 2012, a study quantified that 500 billion US dollars could be saved every year if responsible use of medicines was achieved and pharmacists have been identified as a strong and under-utilized asset to achieve responsible use of the medicine.”
Fervently emphasizing the role of Pharmacists, she added Pharmacists support the growth and economy of our country which provides quality medicines at affordable costs to not only the Indian market but international markets and global agencies such as WHO, World Bank, Red Cross, UNESCO, etc look towards India for large volumes of medicine in the shortest time and cost.
Blood, which makes up to 7 % of body’s weight, carries antibodies, electrolytes, hormones, nourishment and oxygen and cannot be produced artificially. Blood donation, therefore, can help save millions of lives every year. The highest number of units of blood is needed for Bone Marrow transplant followed by automobile accidents, organ transplants and surgical procedures among other things. A healthy blood donor may donate once in every 56 days and the process of blood donation takes just about 10 minutes. As the classic saying goes, you don’t need to be a doctor to save life.
On this occasion, terming donation of blood as one of the highest sacrifice towards saving other’s lives, Mr Zafar Javeed, Secretary – Sultan ul Uloom Education Society donated a cheque of Rs 2 lakhs to Mr Balasubramanyam, IAS towards Red Cross.
The Blood Donation camp was inaugurated by the MLA from Khairtabad constituency Mr Ramchandar Reddy. Managing Director Prime Hospitals Dr Satish Reddy and Balasubramaniyam (IAS) graced the occasion.
Members of Sultan ul Uloom Education, Dr Mir Akbar Ali Khan –Treasurer, Mr Naseem Nathani, Mr Amir Javeed and Mr Mohammed Jaffar were present on the occasion.
Principal of Sultan ul Uloom College of Pharmacy Dr. Anupama Koneru delivered the welcome address. Mr F S Laiq Ali, Vice President BJP Minority Morcha were also present.