BANGALORE: HDFC Bank will organise the 12th edition of its national Blood Donation Drive on December 7. This drive is part of HDFC Bank’s Parivartan; its umbrella brand for all its social initiatives. The clarion call this year is to inspire and encourage more and more people to come forward to donate blood in what is India Inc.’s largest single-day blood donation initiative.

As a run-up to December 7, the Bank has initiated a campaign #StopMithani #YourBloodMatters, where inspiring stories involving ordinary citizens are being communicated as role models for society, particularly the youth to emulate and donate blood. This will help bridge the annual deficit of 1.9 million units India faces when it comes to availability of blood.

Jyotindra C Mithani, a 64 year-old resident of Mira road in Mumbai is one such inspirational story. Over the past 40 years, Mithani has donated blood 151 times. He first donated at the time of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, when there was an appeal for blood for our armed forces. Since then, he’s made it his life’s mission to do his part to bridge the gap between demand for safe blood and its supply. His inspirational record of donating blood on average 4 times a year will end once he turns 65.

HDFC Bank commenced its annual Blood Donation drive in 2007 to reduce the deficit of safe blood available for transfusion. According to the latest government data, India faced a shortage of 1.9 million units of blood in 2016-17, that could have aided more than 320,000 heart surgeries or 49,000 organ transplants.

Over the years, through this initiative, HDFC Bank has collected over 9,00,000 units of blood. According to experts, 1 unit of blood can save up to 3 lives.

On December 7, over 3,200 camps in 1,040 cities will be organized to collect blood.