Asom: Blood Transfusion Services Needs Govt monitoring

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Guwahati, Monday, July 17, 2006

Blood transfusion service needs Govt monitoring

By A Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 16 – What could have been the most readily available life-saver

for the sick and the ailing, has become one of those commodities whose safe and

efficient collection, storage and supply is under a cloud. Blood transfusion

service in Asom has become an area which requires stringent monitoring by the

Government agencies concerned. While private, stand-alone blood banks have

proliferated in many urban centres of the State, the Health and Family Welfare

department has not been able to keep an eye on the functioning of those

facilities. The Assam Tribune has already reported how some private blood banks

have sold blood components without the requisite licence, but the list of

dubious practices is more exhaustive.

It has been reported that blood provided by many of the private blood banks

could be from donors who are “unsafe”. It can be noted that the blood provided

by them on many occasions are taken from professional donors, and at times

haemoglobin counts as low as six or seven has been found in the blood provided.

A well-placed source revealed that unsafe or poor quality blood could lead to

complications in the recipient, with the patient or the attendants remaining

unaware of the fact. “The sale of blood taken from unsafe donors is thus

tantamount to a criminal act,” he said.

How the private blood banks maintain their stock is a matter that needs to be

considered, feels a doctor of the Guwahati Medical College Hospital. “Private

blood banks are not allowed to organize blood donation camps, they do not insist

on exchange, and therefore, their only source could be regular donors. Where do

they get a steady supply of blood when even the average blood donation camp gets

20-25 healthy donors?”

It has been often found that among the professional donors at private blood

banks there are many who are malnourished, maintain unhealthy lifestyles, and

some are even addicted to drugs and other narcotic substances. Blood or blood

components derived from them is an obvious danger.

The irony is that even for such blood and blood components, private blood banks

could charge exorbitant amounts, which attendants have to pay in their most

helpless hour. Last year, a doctor who charged Rs 3,600 for two units of Fresh

Frozen Plasma said that he acted on “humanitarian grounds” and even furnished

rate cards of some other private blood banks, which suggested that his charges

were competitive. The costs of blood and blood components in Government

hospitals, however, are a fraction of what private blood banks charge.

The Government’s apathetic attitude amid this dismal scene is worrying,

considering the fact that the National Blood Policy strongly emphasizes

non-remunerative blood collection and donation.

In the Mission Statement of the National Blood Policy it is stated, “The policy

aims to ensure easily accessible and adequate supply of blood and blood

components collected/ procured from a voluntary, non-remunerated blood donor in

well-equipped premises…”

Significantly, the very concept of private stand-alone blood banks has not found

favour in the National Blood Policy. However, in States like Asom, their numbers

have soared.

To what extent the policy is being implemented in the State is only known to the

authorities concerned. Perhaps those at the helm of affairs are not yet ready to

give blood transfusion service the importance it deserves, a doctor mentioned.

The State’s Health and Family Welfare department has also not been able to

improve its own infrastructure required for better blood transfusion service. It

has failed to introduce a much-needed PG course in Transfusion Medicine in any

of the medical colleges so far.

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Ingrid Bordoloi

e-mail: <ingrid_bordoloi@...>