Early this past week, I received an invitation from my church for a blood drive being conducted in collaboration with the Red Cross. It was a great opportunity for my brother and I. We were approaching the required three-month gap since our last blood donation. The religious institution’s action was a commendable social responsibility, and their wide compound presented a space to allow people to donate while socially distancing.

Surprisingly, my brother and I were the only people who showed up as far as we could tell. It was one of many blood drives the church and the Red Cross has collaborated on. The recent one was cancelled due to low attendance.

The paranoia created as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is evidently to blame for this. People are understandably wary about going out and having a needle put into their arms by persons they do not know. But the outbreak is just the most adverse example of the misinformation that surrounds the need to give lifesaving blood. It has got to do with unfounded fears of weight loss, high blood pressure and even death, as well as harmful cultural beliefs.

It is a tragedy this view exists when lives are lost that could have been saved.

In rural places, many people, including families, persistently refuse to give blood to their loved ones who are critically in need of blood transfusions. This results in a slew of unethical practices by professionals who are desperate to save patients. Some medical professionals give blood themselves, but it is just a drop in the ocean compared to the demand.

Masses of people need blood transfusions while they are undergoing different kinds of treatments. The fact that there is no substitute for human blood makes it all the more crucial.

Despite the common misconceptions out there, blood donation is safe and does not create any health hazard for the giver. Within a day of a blood donation, our body replaces the lost fluids and several days later restores the red blood cells.

Medical technology and production has advanced far enough that sterile disposable equipment is only used once for each donor. This makes blood donation risk free. Any chance of contracting a blood-borne infection by donating blood has been eliminated.