Tripura Chief Minister Prof. Dr Manik Saha on Sunday said that blood donation is a great gift. Therefore, the more people who can be made aware of voluntary blood donation, the more blood donation programmes will increase.
Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha said this while inaugurating the blood donation camp organized by the Health Department to celebrate World Blood Donor Day at Pragya Bhavan in Agartala on Sunday.
While addressing the event, the Chief Minister said that by donating blood, the blood donor himself gets an opportunity to become aware of his health.
“Everyone should come forward with a positive attitude in any donation, including blood donation. A balance should also be maintained between blood donation and blood usage. Currently, there are 14 blood banks in the state. There are also blood cell separation centres in various hospitals in the state,” said Dr Saha.
Dr Saha, who is also Health Minister, said that due to the development of health infrastructure in the state, the number of referral patients is gradually decreasing.
“Currently, kidney transplants are being successfully done in the state. In the future, initiatives will also be taken to carry out liver transplants. The state government aims to further improve and modernize the state's medical system. At present, along with the development of medical infrastructure, the scope of medical education in the state has also increased. Currently, there are 550 MBBS seats in the state and about 200 seats in PG courses,” he said.
Forty-eight blood donors who donated blood voluntarily at different times were felicitated at the event.
The Chief Minister also felicitated seven people who have donated blood three to four times and also unveiled the cover of the quarterly magazine of the Health Department, Swasthya Sangbad.
Dr Biswajit Debbarma, Secretary of Tripura Blood Transfusion Society, Dr. Debashree Debbarma, Director of the Health Department, and B. K. Roy, President of the Tripura branch of the Red Cross Society, were present as guests of honour.