Human milk bank in Tirupati completes two years of servicce

District Collector S. Venkateswar has said that the society has started shedding its inhibitions over the donation of human milk, paving the way for large scale donation.

Taking part in the second anniversary celebrations of the ‘Rotary Human Milk Bank’ on Friday, Mr. Venkateswar appreciated the idea of collecting mother’s milk from consenting women, pasteurising and storing it in a bank to meet the demand from malnourished infants.

‘Rotary Human Milk Bank’ at the Government Maternity Hospital in Tirupati raised eyebrows when it was established by Rotary International two years ago, but it has become a role model for similar initiatives.

The Collector wanted more lactating mothers to come forward to join the movement.

“Even blood donation was met with resistance some twenty years back, but it is in great demand today. Similarly, our initiative will soon gain wider acceptance to benefit premature or malnourished babies,” said Rotary Milk Bank chairman Damodaram Tenkayala and co-chairman Magam Hemachander.

Rotary Club of Tirupati president Rajendra Chetty said similar milk banks are available in Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Vijayawada and Anantapur. He appealed to the public to make use of the facilities.

Government Maternity Hospital Superintendent Dr. G. Prameela said 8,288 newborns benefitted from the bank, thus bringing infant mortality rate down to a great extent.

Andhra Pradesh Medical Council Chairman Dr. D. Sreehari Rao, Amara Hospitals managing director Dr. Ramadevi Gourineni, District Medical & Health Officer Balakrishna Naik, Ruia Medical Superintendent Dr. Manohar lauded the initiative.