A Study of Public Perception towards Blood Donation

The little academic literature on public attitudes towar ds blood donation in our country mentions the most important reason for not donating blood r elated to the personal perception of the blood transfusion. We aimed to study the awar eness of blood donation and perception of donors / non-donors towar ds donation. Higher the income, percentage of non-donors was high i.e. 48%. Majority i.e. 98% people were awar e of blood donation; mainly through organizers (55%) followed by the colleges (20%), schools (5%). Among non-donors (38%) fear of infection (21%), fear of needle (15%) was seen, though 62% wanted to be donors, indolence was the major factor (46%) for the non-donation of blood. Sixty eight per cent (of people (n=200) were awar e of risks in blood transfusion. Major reason for donating blood was donor card as an incentive in 87%, noble cause in 60%. There is need to bring awar eness and to encourage individuals in the community to start and then continue donating blood.