Sanjay Joon, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Faridabad, held a meeting of the district health officials and the organisations engaged in holding blood donation camps in Faridabad last week. He directed the participants to provide necessary inputs immediately so that the website could be started soon.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Ravinder Mathur, and the representatives of various branches of Lions Club and Rotary Club, District Red Cross Society, Nirankari Mission, Jain International, Manav Sewa Samiti, Aggarwal College, Ballabgarh and DAV Public School, Sector 14, and Government Women's College were present at the meeting.

Dr Mathur said the idea is to meet the demand for blood from Faridabad itself. "A large part of the blood collected in voluntary blood donation camps held round the year goes to Delhi's blood banks as we have a limited storage capacity If we have a database of the voluntary blood donors, a person requiring blood can contact the donor of that particular group," he said. This will prevent wastage of blood and fresh blood could be given to a recipient as and when required, added the CMO.

Dr Mathur said that a list of volun- tary donors with details of their blood groups, addresses and contact numbers will be posted on the website and the attendants of the people requiring blood transfusion can contact the donors.

Since the list of voluntary donors will be provided by social organisations and educational institutions, professional blood donors will be kept out.

As of now, blood banks are operational in the government-run Badshah Khan General Hospital, Sunflag Hospital, Fortis Escorts Hospital and the one run by Rotary Club at Santon Ka Gurudwara.

At the meeting Joon said that priority will be given to government health institutions and the surplus blood may then be sent to Delhi. Once the website comes into existence, wastage of blood and transfer of blood to Delhi will come to an end, he hoped.