NEW DELHI, SEPT 12: The National Aids Control Organisation is all set to make Hepatitis C tests mandatory in blood banks across the country. This will be in addition to the tests for HIV 1 and 2, Hepatitis B, syphilis and malaria, which are also mandatory.NACO has already held several training programmes for technical staff in blood banks in the country during the past few months.A draft notification amending the Drug and Cosmetics Rules to include the new test is currently in circulation in all blood banks and the rule is likely to come into force by January, NACO officials said.Both Hepatitis B and C are transmitted through blood and hence leaving out testing for any one of them was unsafe, NACO Deputy Director for Blood Safety P Salil told The Indian Express.The entire training programme - funded by NACO - was carried out by the National Institute for Biologicals at its new office in Noida. The NIB is to take charge of everything related to biologicals in the country, Salil said, adding that the aim was to standardise procedures.In Delhi, where the state government has already made Hepatitis C tests mandatory in blood banks under its purview, banks in Central hospitals like AIIMS, RML and Safdarjung will also start conducting these tests. Another major beneficiary of the NACO-aided blood safety programme would be the blood banks of the Red Cross which have not been able to introduce Hepatitis C tests due to lack of funds.The Red Cross blood bank in Delhi, for instance, tests 50,000 units of blood annually, according to Director S K Chaudhury. But to test them for Hepatitis C would mean an additional expenditure of Rs 3.5 crore as each test kit costs Rs 70. However, Chaudhury said that they were keeping their fingers crossed as to how long NACO would supply them with these kits.The abandon with which NACO organised training programmes for technicians in blood banks recently, has prompted blood bank officials in the Capital to say that there seems to be no dearth of money. ``All of us who have been doing Hepatitis B and HIV tests for some time did not need a special training for Hepatitis C,'' said an official in the Red Cross here.But not everyone thinks the training programmes are a great idea. ``The technique, the principle, and even the equipment for Hepatitis C and B and HIV tests are the same. The difference is only in the reagents used. So why should time and money be spent on training technicians for Hepatitis C tests?'' asked Dr Bharat Singh, who is member governing body of the state blood transfusion council.
