To commemorate the World Blood Donation Day on June 14, various blood donation camps were held in the city, on Sunday, to encourage the citizens to donate blood.
Ahmedabad Medical Association (AMA) and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) organised a "Raktadan Mahayagna 2010", at University Exhibition centre.
About 36 blood banks from the state participated in this mega blood donation camp, organised to celebrate 600th birth anniversary of the city. Indian Red Cross Society and many other leading organisations in the city also participated in the event.
Dr.Pragnesh Vachharajani, Secretary, Gujarat Family Physicians' Forum and Vice-President, AMA said, "There was a tremendous enthusiasm amongst the citizens to participate in this event. About 12,000 and more attended the event. We have collected more than 2,000 bottles of blood. The collection was quite lesser than the entries, because many prospective donors were refused to donate, as they were detected with low haemoglobin levels or diabetes and other such ailments."
About 10 free bus routes were designated for transporting the prospective donors to the venue. Eminent personalities from the city including Ashok Bhatt, Kanaji Thakore were present at the event, to boost the morale of the donors.
A Blood Donation Camp for children suffering from Thalassemia was organised by Amdavad Yuva Ekta Samiti, to celebrate the birthday of city's ex-Mayor Himmatsinh Patel, on Saturday, at Bapunagar. About 500 visited the camp during 10 am to 4 pm and about 300 bottles have been collected.
Well-known personalities including Shailesh Parmar, Vidhasabha Dharasabhya, Surendra Baxi AMC opposition leader and Pankaj Shah, president of Ahmedabad city Congress Samiti remained present on the occasion.
