Mangaluru : The NSS Unit of St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru organized Blood Donation Camp in association with Wenlock District Hospital and Red Cross Society, Mangaluru on 8 August, 2018 in the College Auditorium.

Dr Sharath, Medial Officer, District Wenlock Hospital, Mangaluru was the Chief Guest. Mr Edward, Red Cross Society, Mangaluru was the guest of honour. Rev. Dr Praveen Martis SJ, Principal, St Aloysius College presided over the programme.

Chief Guest, Dr Sharath, in his address, briefed the audience on the importance of blood donation. He explained how the concept of Blood Donation came into existence. In the year 1941, blood donation concept was introduced in Karnataka and Sri Jawaharlal Nehru was the first person to donate blood. He also explained the various groups of blood and how to ascertain them. In India, a person above the age of 18 and below 65 can donate blood. In other countries, a person at the age of 15 can donate blood. A person whose weight is 45 – 50 Kgs is eligible to donate blood. Men can donate blood once in 3 months and women, once in 4 months. He narrated the purpose for which the collected units of blood is used.

A healthy person has 6 litres of blood in the body. But a person needs only 3 litres of blood for survival. Hence, any healthy person can donate blood and the donor can recover the blood within a short span of time. Donating blood also helps in discharging cholesterol stored in the heart and helps build immunity in the body.

Principal, Rev. Dr Praveen Martis, in his presidential address, highlighted the importance of donating blood to a needy patient. The intention of donating blood is to save one’s life and it should be voluntary donation. He also appreciated the efforts taken by the NSS to conduct such camps for a noble cause.

Total 237 pints of blood collected in this camp.

Registrar, Dr A.M. Narahari, NSS Officer, Mr Alwyn, Mr Edward from Red Cross Society were on the dais. Joshua compered the programme. Dhanashree proposed the vote of thanks.