AIIMS Bhopal, BMHRC ‘offline’ on world blood donor day, shows govt blood portal

Bhopal: World Blood Donor Day was marked with volunteer blood donation camps across the city on Sunday, but the govt’s e-RaktKosh blood availability portal faced technical issues, leaving people unable to access access real-time stock data of some important tertiary care hospitals here on Sunday.Union government-run e-RaktKosh portal listed around 30 blood banks linked to Bhopal district. However, AIIMS Bhopal and BMHRC were not searchable on the list. When contacted, a senior official said the matter would be looked into. e-RaktKosh is theoretically supposed to be a 24x7 searchable database of live blood availability with contact numbers.Meanwhile, government blood centres across Bhopal report varying stock levels, with government facilities maintaining larger inventories while some centres face shortages.Gandhi Medical College (GMC), the city’s largest government blood bank at Hamidia Hospital’s Block 1, holds 138 units of O-positive, 161 units of B-positive, and 110 units of A-positive blood as of morning, with operational real-time stock updates.In contrast, District Hospital is still awaiting installation of a component separation facility. Such equipment is essential for efficiently processing donated blood into components like red blood cells, plasma, and platelets.

Kasturba Hospital at BHEL also showed “Not Available” status, with availability information not updated since April 20.Private blood banks show moderate stocks. The Indian Red Cross Society Blood Bank at Shivaji Nagar, marked “Live” with real-time updates, maintaining 26 units of O-positive and 39 units of B-positive, besides others.WHO’s 2026 World Blood Donor Day theme is “One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood.” The day recognizes voluntary, unpaid blood donors and raises awareness about the need for regular donations.Health officials urge eligible donors—ages 18-65, weighing at least 50 kilograms—to visit centers to donate blood.