What disqualifies you from donating blood? (India, full list)

Most people who think they cannot donate blood can. The real disqualification list is short, the temporary list is specific, and the imagined list is enormous. Here is the honest, complete picture for India. ## Permanent bars (rare, serious) - HIV positive - Hepatitis B positive (HBsAg reactive) or chronic hepatitis C - Injecting drug use - Certain blood cancers and severe blood disorders That is genuinely most of the permanent list. If none of these apply to you, the question is only when, never whether. ## Temporary deferrals (wait, then donate) - Tattoo or piercing: 6 to 12 months, infection-window rule. See the tattoo guide. - Pregnancy and after: during pregnancy and for roughly a year after (including breastfeeding months). Details in the pregnancy guide. - Recent surgery or hospital admission: months, condition-specific. - Active infection or fever: until fully recovered, plus a short window. - Some antibiotics: for the infection, usually a week after finishing the course. The medicine guide covers the common ones. - Dental work: days, scale-dependent. - Low haemoglobin: the most common day-of turnaway, and the most fixable: iron-rich food, a few weeks, retest. Haemoglobin explained. - Recent alcohol: 24 hours. Vaccines, periods, PCOS, thyroid, asthma inhalers, smoking: none of these stop you, despite what camp gossip says. ## The measurement rules (not disqualifications, just gates) - Age 18 to 65, first-time donors ideally under 60. - Weight at least 45 to 50 kg (NBTC baseline; some centres set 50). - Haemoglobin 12.5 g/dL minimum on the finger-prick test. - 90 days between donations for men, 120 for women. ## The honest way to find out Your history is yours, and the desk is not a courtroom. Declare everything, answer four questions, and the staff will tell you in one minute: the 60-second checker, the full eligibility page, or straight to the register if you already know you are clear. Someone in your district is a match for a patient today. The list above is the only thing between you and them.