CITY-WIDE DRIVE · 4–11 OCTOBER 2026

Pune needs 1,140 units this week. It has 610.

That gap is not abstract. It is the reason elective surgeries get postponed on Thursdays and why thalassaemia patients at Sassoon are asked to bring their own donors. One donation, taking about forty minutes of your day, closes part of it.

Book a donation slot

Am I eligible?

Where a unit actually goes

One donation is separated into three components, and they rarely go to the same person.

Red cells — 42 days

Surgery, trauma, severe anaemia. This is the component people picture, and the one that runs out first every monsoon.

Platelets — 5 days

Cancer treatment and dengue. Five days is why platelet stock cannot be built up before a crisis; it has to be donated during one.

Plasma — 1 year

Burns, liver disease, clotting disorders. It freezes, so this is the one component where donating in a quiet week genuinely banks against a bad one.

You can almost certainly donate if

✓You are between 18 and 65 and weigh over 45 kg
✓Your haemoglobin is 12.5 g/dL or above — we test free, on the spot
✓You have not donated whole blood in the last 90 days
✓You feel well today and slept reasonably last night

Please wait if

You have had a fever, cold or antibiotics in the last two weeks
You had a tattoo, piercing or dental extraction in the last six months
You are pregnant, or gave birth or breastfed within the last year
You have had dengue, malaria or typhoid in the last six months

Forty minutes, in order

00:00 – 00:10

Registration and screening

A short health questionnaire, blood pressure, and a finger-prick haemoglobin test. About one in nine people is deferred here, usually for low haemoglobin, and that is useful information to have.

00:10 – 00:22

The donation itself

Eight to twelve minutes on the couch for 350 ml. A new sterile single-use kit is opened in front of you, every time. The needle is the worst part and it lasts two seconds.

00:22 – 00:40

Sitting still, eating a biscuit

Fifteen minutes of supervised rest with juice and something sweet. Do not skip it and do not drive off early — this is when the rare faint happens, and it is much better that it happens here.

Questions people ask at the door

Does it hurt?+

A sharp scratch for about two seconds, then nothing. Most first-time donors say the anticipation was worse than the needle, which is not a thing we can make them believe in advance.

Will I feel weak afterwards?+

Most people feel entirely normal within an hour. Avoid heavy lifting and alcohol for the rest of the day, and drink more water than usual. Your body replaces the plasma volume within 24 hours.

Can I donate if I am vegetarian?+

Yes. Vegetarians are slightly more likely to be deferred for low haemoglobin, so eat well the day before and consider an iron-rich meal — but plenty of our regular donors are vegetarian.

Where does my blood go?+

To the pooled city supply through Jankalyan Blood Bank. You cannot direct it to a specific person, and any organisation that tells you otherwise for a fee is not one to trust.

Do I get anything?+

A donor card, your blood group, a free haemoglobin reading, and a certificate if you want one for work. Nothing more — paid donation is illegal in India, and for very good reasons.