Govt to introduce bill to ensure good lab practice for safe blood

New Delhi, Nov 27 (UNI) The Government is considering a National Blood Transfusion Services Act to make it mandatory to put good laboratory practices in place and ensure high quality of services in blood banks.

Inaugurating the National Conference on ''How accessible and safe is 'Safe Blood'' organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said the act was still in drafting stage. The act would define the various roles and responsibilities and also have penal provisions to make the concerned personnel accountable, he said.

Stressing the need for a well-organized blood transfusion service as a vital component of any healthcare system, he said the government will set up state of the art blood banks in 600 districts across India and a model blood bank in all the states within next 2-3 years.

It is also supporting the establishment of metro blood banks in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata with a capacity of collecting and processing 1,00,000 units of blood annually at a cost of Rs 25 crores each to support the regional requirements of testing and storage of blood. These state of the art blood banks with the latest equipment and highly trained and experienced personnel would be valuable resources in terms of manpower and money and will ensure high quality of blood transfusion services.

Dr Ramadoss announced that the government will establish a plasma fractioning unit with a capacity of 15,00,00 litres of blood every year. National Blood Authority will be set up by the government to promote and regulate the process of donations, transfusions and policies regarding blood. India has reduced HIV/AIDS as a cause of blood transfusion to 2% and government has set a target of 0.5%, said Dr. Ramadoss.

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