Blood Donation: Who Can Donate and What Actually Happens
India needs millions of units of blood every year and consistently falls short. Most of the shortfall is not caused by unwillingness but by misconceptions about who can donate and what it does to the body.
Why it is needed
Blood cannot be manufactured. Every unit comes from a donor, and it has a limited shelf life: red cells about 35 to 42 days, platelets only about 5 days, which is why platelet shortages recur constantly.
One donation is separated into components and can help up to three patients.
Blood is needed for childbirth and postpartum haemorrhage, which remains a leading cause of maternal death; trauma and road accidents; surgery; cancer treatment; and lifelong transfusion for thalassaemia major, where a single patient may need more than 20 units a year.
Who can donate
General criteria, which vary slightly between centres:
- Age 18 to 65
- Weight at least 45 to 50 kg
- Haemoglobin at least 12.5 g/dL
- Normal blood pressure, pulse and temperature
- Feeling well on the day
- At least 3 months since the last whole blood donation for men, and 4 months for women in Indian guidelines
- No recent tattoo or piercing, usually within 6 to 12 months
- No high-risk exposure
Who should defer
- Current fever, infection or antibiotics
- Pregnancy, and typically up to 6 to 12 months after delivery, and while breastfeeding
- During menstruation if feeling unwell, though menstruation alone is not a bar
- Recent vaccination, with periods varying by vaccine
- Recent surgery or blood transfusion
- Recent malaria, typhoid, dengue or jaundice, with specified waiting periods
- Low haemoglobin
- Fasting, or not having eaten
Who cannot donate
- HIV, hepatitis B or C
- Uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, heart disease
- Cancer
- Bleeding disorders
- Epilepsy on treatment
- Severe asthma, kidney or liver disease
- Current injecting drug use
- Some chronic medications
Controlled hypertension on stable medication, and diet-controlled or well-controlled diabetes without insulin, are often acceptable; ask rather than assume.
What actually happens
- Registration with photo identification
- A confidential questionnaire about health, medication, travel and risk exposures. Answer honestly; this protects the recipient
- Screening: haemoglobin by a finger prick, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, weight
- Donation: 350 or 450 ml drawn over 8 to 10 minutes through a sterile single-use needle
- Rest and refreshment for 15 minutes, with juice and a snack
- Total time in the centre, around 30 to 45 minutes
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The volume taken is roughly 8 to 10 percent of total blood volume. Plasma is replaced within 24 to 48 hours; red cells over about four to six weeks, which is why the interval exists.
Before and after
Before: sleep well, eat a proper meal, drink plenty of water, avoid fatty food which can make the plasma lipaemic and unusable, avoid alcohol for 24 hours, and bring identification.
After: keep the bandage on for a few hours, drink extra fluids for a day, eat normally, avoid heavy lifting and vigorous exercise for 24 hours, avoid alcohol for 24 hours, do not smoke for half an hour, and do not drive a heavy vehicle or operate machinery immediately.
Mild light-headedness is possible; sit or lie down with legs raised and it passes. Significant reactions are uncommon.
Myths
- “It makes you weak.” Volume is replaced within two days and donors return to normal activity the same day
- “It causes anaemia.” Haemoglobin is checked beforehand precisely to prevent this, and the interval allows full recovery
- “The needle might give me an infection.” Every needle and bag is sterile, single-use and discarded. There is no risk of acquiring infection from donating
- “Women cannot donate.” Women meeting the criteria donate normally
- “It’s painful.” A brief prick; most donors describe it as less than a blood test because the chair, the rest and the pace are gentler
- “Diabetics and people on BP medicine can never donate.” Many can; it depends on control and medication
- “Vegetarians cannot donate.” Haemoglobin is what matters, not diet type
- “Blood is sold for profit.” Indian blood banks charge a processing fee for testing, component separation and storage, not for the blood itself, and donation must be voluntary and unpaid
What happens to the blood
Each unit is tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and malaria, and blood-grouped and cross-matched. It is separated into red cells, plasma and platelets so that one donation serves several patients. Units are stored under controlled conditions and issued on cross-match.
If a screening test is positive, the donor is informed confidentially and referred for care, which means donation also functions as a health check.
Other ways to help
Platelet apheresis takes platelets and returns the rest; it takes longer, around 60 to 90 minutes, and can be repeated more frequently. Platelets are chronically short, particularly during dengue season and for cancer patients.
Regular voluntary donation is what makes supply reliable. Replacement donation, where families are asked to find donors at the moment of need, is the system that fails patients without a social network.
Registering as a regular donor, donating two to four times a year, and encouraging a workplace or community drive does more than any single emergency appeal.
This is general information. Eligibility is decided by the blood bank medical officer at the time of donation; if you are unsure whether you qualify, go and ask rather than assuming you do not.