About The Initiative

What is the initiative?

Dr Y M Bhende discovered a rare blood group in 1952, while working at the KEM Hospital that was named the Bombay Blood Group. As a tribute to his ‘life saving’ discovery, it was decided, primarily by his family members, to establish an ongoing program which they have appropriately named, “Dr Y M Bhende Memorial Rare Blood Group Initiative.” (YMB-RBG).

This initiative has been launched with the creation of this website, very aptly called, RareBloodConnect.org (acronym RBC, a reference to Red Blood Corpuscles, an important constituent of our blood). The primary objective of this website is to create awareness about rare blood groups in general and the Bombay Blood Group in particular. We are sure that a strong Bombay Blood Group Community will emerge in the near future from this effort and that the understanding and implications of having the Bombay Blood Group are very clear.

Portrait from “Classics in Indian Medicine: Y. M. Bhende”, The National Medical Journal of India, Vol. 21, No. 5, 2008.

Built on Trust

The discoverer of this blood group, Dr YMB lived by certain significant values: Simplicity, Unwavering Commitment to a cause, Uncompromising Work Ethics and Selfless Service to Society. In keeping with these, it is our endeavour to make this initiative transparent, pillared on the trust that he built in his lifetime and completely dedicated to the service and good health of those who are needy of rare blood groups, with special emphasis on the Bombay Blood Group.

Our Background

This is a completely ‘not for profit’ initiative by Dr Y M Bhende’s family. They are very well recognised in society and have been associated with the Education and Industrial fields for many years in eminent positions.

Many of Dr Bhende’s students and doctors associated with him, who are eminent Physicians and senior well recognised Pathologists in their own right, are guiding us through this initiative. Research Organisations, prominent Blood Banks, Hospitals and Pathology Laboratories are the source of vital information, which would help us determine the right workflow, institute complete privacy of ‘donor and recipient data’ and provide a veritable trust platform to anyone who desires to register on our website.

We are committed to honouring the trust built by Dr Y M Bhende and fostering it through the means of this website initially and furthering it through future initiatives that would enable a punctual and reliable ‘donor to recipient’ movement of blood, belonging to the Bombay Blood Group initially and other rare blood groups to follow. Identification of donors and recipients, Testing, in keeping with modern techniques, Sustainable Storage for longer durations, Distribution through Cold Chains and complete Geographical Coverage would follow quickly, once a critical mass is achieved.

Why This Initiative

Understanding the implications of your blood group belonging to the Bombay Blood Group (and rare blood group class in general), are unclear and sometimes tend to be misunderstood. All our efforts would be directed towards creating a sustainable pathway to help deepen understanding and awareness of this blood group. It would also be our effort to substantially increase the present levels of identification and availability of the Bombay Blood Group (to start with). Initially, this website would be the major medium to do so backed by a harmonious and collaborative effort with like minded organisations and individuals who have worked in such areas. To reach our first goal of identifying a reasonably large quantum of the probable 1 in 10-15,000 Bombay Blood Group citizens of India, this website and the support organisation would serve as a small starting point. Our aim is the continuous and timely availability of Bombay Blood Group (to start with) for all known, scheduled and critical needs.

What then is the larger goal of this initiative?

To use the existing organisations and infrastructure, in addition to what is being created by us, to ensure we do not duplicate efforts and move cohesively towards a common, much needed goal. The ultimate objective is to alleviate the shortage of Bombay Blood Group in India, to create complete awareness about it, so that patients who possess this group are not deprived of this knowledge, to completely eliminate any untoward incidences due to its non-detection in time, assess historical needs by geography and devise means of identifying appropriately located donors and consequent storage and arrange temperature controlled movement from ‘available points’ to ‘consumption destinations’.

In other words, address the entire value chain for Bombay Blood Group availability across India.

This would then be extended to other rare blood groups, later followed by territorial expansion to other identified countries.

Getting in touch

If you want to help, partner with us, or simply ask a question, send us a message. If you have a rare blood group yourself, the most useful thing you can do is join the register.