Jailed for over 72 hours? You can't donate blood

Jail inmates often contract blood-borne infectious diseases and can spread the infection if they donate blood. Pic for Representation

The Central government has streamlined blood donation rules to ensure the safety of donors and patients. As per the guidelines, someone who has been jailed for more than 72 hours cannot donate blood. Also, an inmate out of jail cannot donate blood for a year from his/her release.

A senior officer from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) said that this has been done according to the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO). "As per the recommendations of WHO, it is advised that any person who has been jailed for more than 72 hours shouldn't donate blood. This is to avoid unnecessary chances of infection. They have been included into the vulnerable group [who are apparently more susceptible to sexually transpired diseases] of infection," he said.

It is well known that jail inmates often contract blood-borne infectious diseases. They can spread the infection if they donate blood. Speaking about this, Ganesh Acharya, an activist said, "When a person donates blood, it undergoes several tests to check if it comes under the parameters of transfusion. But often, the tests don't provide accurate data all the time due to the restrictions on the window period of infection.

So NACO avoids taking blood donations from people who fall in the vulnerable group." Despite repeated calls and messages, Dr Padmaja Keskar, in-charge of the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society, didn't respond.

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