'Blood banks to go online by month-end'

J P Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said on Saturday that blood banks in the country would go online by the end of January.

“We are hopeful to have all the blood banks in the country connected online,” he said. The minister spoke at the Adamya Chetana Seva Utsava 2016 in the City on Saturday. Nadda relaunched ‘Raktadan.org,’ a website managed by the Trust that connects blood donors with recipients.

“In ancient India, our daily chores would begin by contributing to the environment. The day would start by watering plants and feeding the cows. We have forgotten it all. The irony is that we think of it as something great when the West tries to preach this to us,” Nadda said.  This year, the Seva Utsava focuses on creating a Green Bengaluru. An attempt would be made for a human-tree ratio of 1:1.

“Ideally, we need seven plants to meet the oxygen requirements of one person. From 1:1, we should gradually try to reach a ratio of 1:7,” he said. Nadda was of the opinion that it is because of the lush greenery of Himachal Pradesh that North India has enough fresh air to breathe.  

On the third day of the Utsava, doctors who have contributed to the society were felicitated. Among them were Dr C N Manjunath, director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardio Vascular Sciences (CVD) and Research, Dr Shashidhar Buggi, director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases and Dr Ganesh Nayak, MD, HCG.