Every year, when dengue season arrives or another health emergency unfolds, the same distressing scenes play out in government hospitals. Families are seen making desperate appeals on social media for blood or platelet donors while their loved ones struggle for survival in overcrowded wards. Many of us have witnessed relatives running from one hospital to another, relying on online posts and personal contacts simply because there is no dependable supply of blood and plasma when it is needed most.
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed this weakness even more clearly, particularly during the demand for convalescent plasma. Yet little seems to have changed. With dengue outbreaks recurring across provinces such as Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, public hospitals continue to suffer from poorly stocked blood banks, limited storage facilities and the absence of a proper system to link voluntary donors with patients.
It is deeply troubling that lives are lost not only due to illness, but because a basic and organised blood donation system does not exist. Patients in government hospitals, many of whom cannot afford private treatment, are left to arrange life-saving resources on their own.
The authorities must respond with urgency. Public hospitals need properly equipped blood banks, trained staff, digital donor registries and sustained awareness campaigns that promote voluntary donation as a routine responsibility rather than a crisis-driven act.
A reliable blood and plasma supply system would save lives and restore public confidence in the healthcare system.
Umm-e Hani Mohammad
Karachi
