New Delhi, March 26 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to examine a public interest litigation (PIL) raising the plight of blood donors who face significant difficulties in donating blood due to 'restricted' operative hours of the blood banks, i.e. till 4 p.m. or 5 p.m.
The PIL seeks direction to the Centre to take necessary action towards making the service of blood donation accessible 24/7 rather than the one which is currently being followed.
Issuing notice, a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela sought the response of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in the matter.
The plea, filed by advocate Vishal Arun Mishra, said there are so many volunteer donors/NGOs for blood donations who could not provide service to the patient due to restricted hours of the hospitals, especially government hospitals.
"For example, the petitioner himself is an Advocate-On-Record and has to be available in the Courts till 5.00 to 5.30 p.m., hence, whenever the petitioner gets any call during working hours, he has to deny the same due to his professional obligations," said the petition.
It added that the restrictive blood donation hours at New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital is only from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. whereas the blood donation widow at AIIMS, Delhi, is from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday which creates substantial hurdles for volunteers, as to donate blood, they will have to be present between the time frame provided, which becomes rather difficult due to professional obligations.
"Despite the blood banks being operational 24 hours, the blood donation facility operates only within limited hours, causing difficulties for donors and jeopardising patient care. This issue extends to private hospitals, which have adopted similar restrictive timings, further aggravating the problem," the petition stated.
The petition underscored the critical need for a more flexible blood donation schedule to ensure the timely availability of blood for medical treatments, along with suitable blood donation hours which accommodate the hectic schedule of the petitioner and other such persons.
"There were many instances where patients were denied timely treatment due to the unavailability of blood donations," said the petition.
The PIL is likely to be listed for the next hearing on July 9.
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