The scenario discussed in "Tackling disinterest towards blood donation" is not an uncommon one. What is disturbing is that irrespective of the progress in the field of transfusion medicine, the problem faced by this resident mirrors what I faced in my residency in Mumbai, two decades ago. Fifteen years of working in a transfusion medicine centre allows me to say that the lack of public awareness and our dependence on blood donation by relatives are interrelated and remain the bane of our blood donation system.