NET News Desk

The Thadou Students’ Association (TSA), Imphal condemned the alleged treatment of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) authorities, towards a blood donor who was shooed away on the ground that he was an ex-drug user.

In a press statement issued by Michael Lamjathang Haokip, General Secretary of TSA, it has been claimed that in an unfortunate incident the top medical institute of the state, RIMS on the 28th of June, 2020 where a prospective blood donor was humiliated as he was an ex-drug user.

“Blood donation is a benevolent activity and people who come to voluntarily donate blood should be welcome and not treated with disdain. If the wannabe donor does not fit the description he or she should be persuaded with respect because very few human beings had the greatness of heart and conviction to part with his or her precious blood,” the statement read.

The statement further said, “A prospective blood donor was contemptuously shooed away by an assistant professor on the ground that he was an ex-drug user. The man-in-question was humiliated by the indecent treatment and had to go through immense mental trauma from that harrowing experience.

People in medical professions are requested to maintain decorum and caution while dealing with such cases for there’s stigma with an ex-drug user however, reformed he or she might be.

It is not easy to give up drugs once you are wallowed in it and takes an enormous amount of resolve to let go. So they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect for abandoning drugs and other narcotic substances. After all, they are also human beings.”

Calling it as an unfortunate incident, the Association condemned the act and appealed the medical fraternity to ensure that such untoward incidents do not recur again.

The blood donation camp was organized to commemorate the 163rd anniversary of the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ of 1857.