Data bank of blood donors starts in Bahrain

Manama: An expat organisation in Bahrain has come up with a data bank of people who are ready to donate blood in emergency cases at any time of the day.

This facility was arranged by the Bahrain chapter of Kerala Muslim Cultural Association (KMCC) and coordinated by general convener A P Faisal, conveners Faisal Kottappally and Ashraf Thodannoor. Anyone who needs blood can send an SMS to the mobile numbers 39841984 or 39881099 or 39855258. The volunteers will immediately call the sender, ready to donate blood.

“Our system processes the request and sends message to people whose blood group matches with the requirement with contact details of donors. Within minutes, volunteers are sent to the person requesting blood," Mr Faisal explained. He said that this service is exclusively for Bahrain. KMCC has organised 11 blood donation camps till now in association with the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) blood blank in which around 2200 volunteers donated blood. They normally conduct blood donation camps twice a year – on December 16, the National Day of Bahrain and on August 1, the death anniversary of Panakkad Syed Mohammedali Shihab Thangal, a Muslim religious leader and one of the most famous Islamic scholars from the Indian state of Kerala.

Faisal says that blood group AB negative is very rare and yet there are 10 volunteers in their data bank. 

“AB positive blood grouping suggest the person has both A and B antigens in the serum. It is a considerably rare group with a worldwide prevalence of only four percent,” he added.

KMCC has received an appreciation letter from Bahrain's Health Minister for their continuous support and cooperation in arranging blood donation camps, they said. Every year on June 14, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event, established in 2004, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood.