A state-specific ‘Blood on Call’ (104) service in Maharashtra is being shared as a Pan-Indian service

Update (08 November 2022): The ‘Blood on Call’ (104) service that was launched in Maharashtra in January-2014 was discontinued by the state government from 01 April 2022. Officials cited ‘financially unviable’ as the reason for the discontinuation of the service.

A post is being shared widely on social media with a claim that a new ‘Blood on call’ service with the helpline number ‘104’ has been launched by the Government for the blood requirement in India. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.

The archived version of the post can be found here.

Claim: ‘104’ launched as a Pan-India helpline number for the ‘Blood on Call’ service.
Fact: ‘104’ helpline was launched for the ‘Blood on Call’ service only in Maharashtra. It is not a Pan-Indian service. Other states use the ‘104’ helpline for providing other services. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.

When searched on Google about the ‘Blood on Call’ (104) service, it was found that the service was launched in Maharashtra in January-2014. The details provided in the post about the service can be also found in an article published by ‘Times of India’ in 2014. The helpline number can be also found in Maharashtra’s Public Health Department website. But, the ‘104’ helpline is being used for different purposes by other states (even Maharashtra uses the same number for other purposes) and the ‘Blood on Call’ service was not found to be implemented across the country.

When searched further about the ‘104’ helpline, it was found that ‘GVK EMRI is operating “104 Health Advice Helpline Services” in partnership with Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Goa and Rajasthan Administration of the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and, Dadra & Nagar Haveli.’

‘104’ helpline in some states:

Telangana:
104 medical services are under the control of the director and commissioner of the health department and are meant for rural health services.

Assam:
104 Sarathi is a round-the-clock free of cost health contact center. It provides four key services: Medical advice using triage, Counseling services, Directory information, and Complaint registry.