Shortage of blood following increase in number of patients

Kathmandu - Blood is in short supply in the district with the increasing number of patients in various hospitals here. The demand of blood has increased as the patients who had been staying home during the lockdown have now started coming to the hospitals. The Regional Blood Transfusion Centre Bharatpur's chief Ramesh Kanta Poudel said they have not been able to meet the growing demand for blood.

According to him, although the Centre has been receiving demand for 100 units blood daily, it is hard for them to supply even 40 units. Poudel attributed the shortage of blood to reduced blood donation due to the risk of COVID-19, a sharp drop in the number of donors coming to the Centre for donating their blood and the peak cultivation season. He said the BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital in the district has been demanding 30 units blood daily.

The demand for blood has risen sharply with increase in the number of patients at the two large medical colleges, the Cancer Hospital and the Bharatpur Hospital. Patients from various places of the country as well as from neighbouring country come for treatment at the Cancer Hospital while patients from more than 19 districts including Chitwan come seeking treatment at the other big hospitals.

45-bed HDU to be set up at Bharatpur Hospital Meanwhile, construction of a 45-bed capacity high dependency unit (HDU) has been started at the Bharatpur Hospital which has been playing a leading role in treating COVID-19 patients outside of the federal capital. The HDU would be brought into operation within two weeks, the Hospital's medical superintendent Dr Rajan Pandey said.