BANGALORE: Cognizant Foundation—the CSR arm of Cognizant—has funded an ambulance van and critical equipment for Bangalore Medical Services Trust (BMST). These will be used in the Rotary-TTK Blood Bank, managed by BMST.
The ambulance van and the equipment were formally presented to BMST on March 15, 2018, by P R Devaraj, Global Head, IT Infrastructure, Network & Systems Services, and Head of Cognizant’s Bangalore center, in the presence of senior officials from Cognizant and BMST.
The ambulance van will be used for transport of equipment by the blood collection team during blood donation camps, and help transport back the collected blood to storage centers. The critical equipment purchased includes a Cell Counter, a blood collection monitor and a refrigerated centrifuge. The cell counter is used for estimation of Haemoglobin, red cells and platelet levels in patient and donor samples; while the blood collection monitor is used for automated start and stop of accurate volume, time and process of blood collection. The refrigerated centrifuge is used to process the blood for screening infectious diseases.
“Our blood bank collects around 40,000 units of blood per annum exclusively from over 10,000 voluntary blood donors. BMST conducts over 450 blood donation camps in various industries and colleges, including Cognizant. The critical equipment funded by Cognizant Foundation help a big way in augmenting the facilities of our blood bank, and help us pass on the benefits to the underprivileged in society. We are thankful to Cognizant Foundation for the generous grant,” said Dr Latha Jagannathan, BMST’s Medical Director and Managing Trustee.
More than 35% of the blood collected by BMST is given free to government hospitals and around 2000 free blood transfusions are given to Thalassemia and hemophilia patients at BMST’s day care transfusion center. About 25 % of the beneficiaries of the BMST’s blood bank services are from the lower income and below poverty line segments of the society.
Bangalore Medical Services Trust (BMST) was established by the Rotary Club of Bangalore and TTK & Company in 1984. BMST started operations with setting up as a single blood-bank, and has over time evolved to become a center of excellence in the areas of blood banking, immunohematology, transplant immunology, tissue banking, and, advanced training and research.
Cognizant Foundation was established to spearhead CSR initiatives in Cognizant, one of the world’s leading professional services companies. Established with the objective of improving, guiding and inspiring the lives of underprivileged people, Cognizant Foundation focuses primarily on the areas of Education, Healthcare and Livelihood. The prime objective of Cognizant Foundation is to reach out to the economically and socially backward sections of the Society and make a meaningful impact in their lives and in their quest for a better future.
