AUGUST 20: With the aim of improving blood transfusion facilities and cuttting down the cost of blood in the long run, the government is setting up six blood component separation centres in Maharashtra.These centres will be set up with central assistance at Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nasik, Amravati and Kolhapur.Apart from curtailing the cost of blood, these centres will give patients specific components, instead of transfusing an entire unit of blood.For instance, if a patient is anemic, it is better to give him only red Blood Cells. In a patient with thrombocytopenia, only a platelet concentrate is required. Transfusing the specific component also avoids the danger of over-loading and side-effects. Moreover, this way one unit of blood can be used by more than one individual, thus reducing its cost. Some of the components in their separated form also last longer.Through the process of separation, blood can be divided into its cellular components - Red Blood Cells (RBC), White Blood Cells (WBC), platelets, plasma, cryoprecipitate and cryopoor plasma. For the last two years, plasma and RBC separation is being carried out at the St George Hospital, Mumbai.Whole blood needs to be given to actively bleeding patients, who have lost more than 50 per cent of blood. At present, one unit of whole blood costs Rs 350 in government hospitals and Rs 600 and above in private hospitals. As against this, Dr Vijayalakshmi Ray, former director of India's only blood fractionation centre at the KEM Hospital, Mumbai, says RBC units are given free of cost. Platelets cost Rs 100 and Plasma Rs 350 per unit.According to Dr S Jadhav, Assistant Director of Health, the Nagpur centre is likely to start functioning in the beginning of September soon after an approval from the Food and Drug Administration is received. The plan for the centre at B J Medical College, Pune has already been approved by the FDA. The centre has also been given a central government grant of Rs 11.12 lakh. This centre is likely to start by the end of August.``At Kolhapur, Plasma-RBC separation is being done since July 1996, and the agitation equipment for the platelet separation has also arrived,'' informs Dr Jadhav.The Amravati, Nasik and Kolhapur centres have also been given a grant of Rs 2 lakh each by the state government as part of its `Modernisation of Blood Banks' project. They will also be paid an additional Rs 1.36 lakh per year. A technician from each of these centres has also undergone a 15-day training programme conducted by the Maharashtra government.
