Indian
Express: Hyderabad: Tuesday, September 17, 2019.
The
outbreak of dengue that the State government refuses to acknowledge, has left
family members of patients running from pillar to post for blood.
According
to a response to an RTI petition filed by activist Robin Zaccheus, no funding
has been provided for the infrastructural development of the public blood banks
across the State between 2016 and 2019.
Speaking
to Express, Zaccheus said, “I donate blood to public blood banks regularly,
however, seeing the condition of the infrastructure here, I filed an RTI two
months back. As the RTI response states, no funding has been provided for the
betterment of these blood banks. There needs to be widespread awareness about
government authorised blood banks.
KT
Rama Rao often tweets about the need of blood and assumes that his
responsibility ends there. “Why should the public have to beg on social media
and spend thousands of rupees at private clinics, when public blood banks
should provide units for free,” he questions.
According
to the response by the AIDS Control Department of the central government, the
basic principle of non-profitability should be followed in blood banking, and
continue to levy no charge for blood as such, as it is to be collected from
voluntary non-remunerated blood donors who are not to be paid for donating
blood.
The
RTI response reads, “for Government blood banks, the processing charges are
recommended as, whole blood Rs 1,050 per unit, packed red cells Rs 1,050 per
unit, fresh frozen plasma Rs 300 per unit, platelet concentrate Rs 300 per unit
and cryoprecipitate Rs 200 per unit.”
The
recommended processing charges for non-government blood banks as, “whole blood
Rs 1,450 per unit, packed red cells Rs 1,450 per unit, fresh frozen plasma Rs
400 per unit, platelet concentrate Rs 400 per unit and cryoprecipitate Rs 250
per unit.”
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