Earlier, blood transfer from one back to the other was forbidden but on compassionate grounds some banks used to indulge in these practices, but now the blood can be bartered between different blood banks, says the Union Health Ministry.
in this case will be acceptable by all blood banks and this means that there will be an exchange of blood between the government and private hospitals. Transfer of blood was not permitted from one blood bank to the other in the past, but now the Union Ministry has agreed to the transfer.
According to general secretary, Dr JS Arora, from the National Thalassaemia Welfare Society, “The decision of the ministry is a welcome move. This will help patients with rare blood groups and blood disorders. Donor cards should also be universally accepted. We have seen that if a donor has donated blood in central Delhi and his kin needs blood in West or South Delhi, the donor card is not accepted in the blood bank of the respective area. This is discourages donors and patients suffering from diseases like thalassemia keep waiting for days because of shortage of blood.”
A few blood banks had indulged in the practice of blood exchange in the past on the basis of compassion, but patients were always concerned about the acceptance of donor cards everywhere, feared the health experts. Dr. Arora also stated “The move will prevent wastage of blood in banks because blood usually expires after a certain period of time. However, while government blood banks charge a nominal fee from patients of private hospitals, private hospitals do not accept blood from government blood banks. They ask for donors and charge hefty amounts.”
India has a vast population of almost 1.2 billion people but astonishingly it faces shortage of blood of almost 3 million units. We need about 12 million units annually but just about 9 million units are collected per year. On the suggestion of the National Blood Transfusion Council, the Health Ministry issued this initiative and has also done the needful for surplus plasma in the blood banks.
A statement issued by the Health Ministry confirms “Now an exchange value of Rs 1600 per litre of plasma has been fixed and the blood banks with surplus plasma can exchange it for consumables, equipments or plasma derived products, as per their need. This exchange, however, cannot be in terms of cash. This step is expected to increase the availability of essential medicines like human albumin, immunoglobulins, clotting factors, which are all derived from plasma. It would also reduce India’s dependence on import.” Hats off to this important step taken by the Health Ministry, a large number of health issues will be taken care of by this humungous step.
