Social Worker Kiran Verma Walks 16,400 km to Raise Awareness About Blood Donation

ITANAGAR: In a bid to raise awareness about the importance of voluntary blood donation, Delhi-based social worker Kiran Verma has reached Itanagar, covering a distance of 16,400 km and more than 210 districts on foot. On a'mission' to cover 21,000 km across India to create awareness about blood donation, Verma started his journey on December 28, 2021, from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. “The mission of the walk is to spread awareness about blood donation among the people so that no one should die waiting for blood in India after December 31, 2025,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of blood donation, he pointed out that the government can create infrastructure, blood banks, and other required facilities, but they are going to be meaningless if there is no blood donation. Further citing the various benefits of blood donation, he said that those who donate blood can avoid disorders such as blood sugar, cancer, etc. “So, I am walking to encourage blood donors to donate blood so that blood banks and hospitals don't run dry on blood,” he said. Since the start of his journey almost two years ago, Verma has supported and organized a total of 126 blood donation camps in different parts of the country, through which more than 26,722 units of blood were collected. Apart from these camps, more than 8,000 individual blood donors have donated blood in their personal capacity at different blood banks across the country and abroad to support his campaign.

From here, the social worker plans to visit other parts of the state and other northeastern states. Verma recalls that he started donating blood when he came across a woman who was forced to go into prostitution to pay medical bills for her husband’s treatment. “It was hard to digest for me, and the same day I left my job and came up with this mission,” he said. "Every day, more than 12,000 people fail to get blood in India, due to which more than 3 million people die waiting for blood. If 5 million youths start donating blood, then there will be no deaths because of the non-availability of blood in India,” he added.

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