Analysis 

Interview with Veddansh Dewan from The Doon School

Based on the analysis of the podcast conducted with an eleventh grader from The Doon School, the Hamara Prayas research team concluded the following things:

• Even in major cities such as Meerut (which has a population of over 3.5 million people, there is a severe shortage of infrastructure to support blood donations. This signals a general disinterest towards blood donations from local and national governments and also is a reason why not many people are able to donate because their local blood banks are extremely far away. 

• There is an assumption that all blood can be donated and used, however the blood needs to be tested thoroughly before being used for medical purposes.

• There is severe lack of awareness regarding blood donations and people don't yet understand the immense impact a single blood donation can have on a persons life. 

  • This is furthered by the fact that in major metropolitan cities, as pointed out, there is a severe shortage of collective responsibility amongst the residents. Thus people don't feel innately motivated or driven to actually bring about a change in their society. 

• The main gaps in general knowledge about blood donations were as follows:

  • People still believe that blood donation is an extremely painful process. People are especially scared about the sight of blood while donating blood because it is much more visible compared to a blood test. This as pointed out by Avighna is a placebo effect as seeing translated to feeling. 

  • People believe that they can donate blood 1 or twice a month, whereas, to ensure that it is healthy, people should donate in at least intervals of 6-8 weeks. 

  • People believe that blood donations can make you dizzy, whereas this is not true.

Using this information and analysis, Hamara prayas aims to better its awareness campaigns and make a powerful impact on the communities it is in.