Vision and Goals for the journey ahead

We have come a long way. Over the past 12 years, Sankalp has evolved from a group of college students toiling hard to ensure no one in their vicinity suffers due to shortage of blood into a structured organization working with experts and taking Karnataka towards 100% voluntary blood donation and a making the state thalassemia free. Over the past 12 years, the organization has conducted hundreds of blood donation drives, adhered to lakhs of blood requests and provided care and better management to hundreds of children suffering from Thalassemia. Each small step taken has been towards a common goal, a shared vision. As Sankalp India Foundation completes 12 years, we share with you and our vision and the roadmap ahead. Rakta Kranti Rakta Kranti aims at organizing efficient and well-organized blood donation drives. The team plans to take Karnataka towards 100% voluntary blood donation while sticking to the basic principles the organization has always stood for –
1. Support voluntary blood banks who
2. Issue blood without bias and who are
3. Strictly committed to quality, safety
4. And accessibility of blood for one and all.
We plan to achieve this by increasing participation of replacement based blood banks in our camps. As of now, several accomplished blood banks, which are a potential solution to the menace of replacement based blood donation, do not participate in voluntary blood donation camps. Replacement based blood is not the safest blood, as the patient’s relative or friend may hide ailment and still donate in pressure. Bringing these blood banks to camps will not only make transfusion medicine safer, but also help take the state towards 100% voluntary blood donation. Sankalp also plans to reduce complications associated with blood donation. Ensuring less complication will lead to greater donor confidence. The criteria for deferral is another area that the organization wants to streamline. As of now, deferral criteria of blood donors across the country are not streamlined. We plan to strengthen the science behind donor deferral and thereby ensure every single donor eligible to donate blood gets to do so. In addition, we plan to organize training and skill building sessions for blood bank staff. This, coupled with better implementation of technology will certainly take us towards 100% voluntary blood donation in Karnataka. Rationalizing Blood Usage The organization plans to prepare ground to enable rational use of blood. Unfortunately, not all the blood units that get collected by blood banks get used in the best manner. Ensuring rational usage of blood will help reduce the requirement and ensure critical needs do not convert into emergencies and are catered to by blood from shelves. We also plan to promote alternatives to transfusion to rationalize blood usage too. Science has progressed enough to ensure medicines help reduce blood requirement. Bringing them into practice is however the greater challenge, but surely holds the potential to help reduce wastage of the lifesaving connective tissue. Emergency Team The emergency team of Sankalp plans to strengthen networking in the four southern states. Following what the team has accomplished in Karnataka, the network will drill down to the grass root level and reach beyond cities and provide services to places where they are most needed. Once the four southern states are streamlined, we plan to reach out further and use our knowledge and expertise to help cater to emergency blood requests from the entire country. The team also plans to foster adoption of tools and techniques which will help optimize use of rare blood groups. One of the identified mechanisms is cryopreservation, a process where blood can be preserved for long durations by cooling to sub-zero temperatures. We are actively pursuing the possibilities to bring the technique into best use. Thalassemia Management Sankalp has been working on Thalassemia Management over the past few years. With two active day cares, over 400 children getting benefited, and Sankalp's technology and management strategy reaching out to five other states, we plan to -
1. Ensure state of the art management oriented towards complication prevention and good quality of life for patients.
2. Use technology, management and networking to minimise the effort and cost involved.
3. Transform thalassemia management into a measurable and quality assured service.
4. Expand management activity to more centers across the country.
5. Enhance cooperation between care centers, thereby enabling knowledge and skill exchange.
Thalassemia Cure With three successful Bone Marrow Transplants in the previous year, we plan to streamline and mainstream the transplant process for thalassemia with success rates comparable to the best in the world. The organization also plans to establish powerful quality management program for Bone Marrow Transplants to ensure reliability of the procedures with rational use of resources in the Indian setting. This will enable Bone Marrow Transplants become more affordable and hence benefit the greater populace. The goal for the coming year is to offer 15-25 transplants for thalassemia major children, thereby completely curing them of the disease. Volunteers and Sankalp Family Volunteers are the backbone of Sankalp. In the coming days, we want to ensure that each volunteer gains training, experience and knowledge to deliver their tasks at the cutting edge of their chosen area. With strong technical proficiency, the organization plans to develop systems which allow volunteers to function effectively with increasing activity with sustained quality, with a strong focus on leveraging the learning and foster collaboration and co-operation. The larger Sankalp Family, which comprises of friends, family members, doctors, technicians, donors, camp organizers, and well-wishers, have been the organization's greatest strength. They have helped us shape, and come forward to help during the most critical situations. Together we can make meaningful and lasting impact. With growing challenges, we want to enable synergetic teamwork to make best use of the skills of Sankalp Friends. With your resources and experience, and our common intent, together, we can give life a better chance.