INTRODUCTION

Blood is an important and lifesaving component of the body and hence its transfusion for various ailments is a landmark for improving health. The concept of providing safe and adequate blood is a contributory factor for the country’s National Health Care Policy and infrastructure. Timely transfusion of blood saves millions of lives, but unsafe transfusion practices puts millions of people at risk of transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs). Globally, more than 81 million units of blood are donated each year. More than 18 million units of blood are not screened for transfusion transmissible infections. With every unit of blood, there is a 1% chance of transfusion associated problems including transfusion transmitted diseases. An unsafe transfusion is very costly from both human and economic points of view(1). In that perspective the present study is aimed to assess the profile of blood donors.

The aim of this study was to determine the profile of donors as well as to ascertain the knowledge, attitude and practices among these donors, regarding various aspects of blood donation, who have visited the hospital blood bank of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. This exploratory study was conducted for the period of three months from August 2019 to October 2019.