Futi Sherpa of Thuki VDC recently died of excessive bleeding a few days after she gave birth to a child. She died while being taken to Dharan for blood transfusion which was not possible at Taplejung Hospital. [break]
Futi is just a case in point. There are many patients that have risked their lives owing to shortage of blood in this remote hilly district.
“She had been drained of all her energy due to continuous excessive bleeding,” said Khangdu, the bereaved husband of Futi.
As the blood bank in the district hospital has fallen short of stocks, the patients are compelled to rely on blood donated by their relatives and locals.
“Yet, the same person cannot donate blood within three months of last transfusion,” said Dr Bishnurath Ghimire, chief of the district hospital. He even feared possible aggression and vandalism from the relatives of patients.
According to Dr Ghimire, the hospital has the biggest flow of patients in the eastern hills but lacks minimum supply of blood and oxygen. As many as 125 patients flock every day to the15-bed hospital.
Efforts to establish a new blood bank have also been futile due to lack of necessary equipments, said Ganesh Adhikari, president of Nepal Red Cross Society Taplejung. “We, however, have already built a building for the purpose,” he added.
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