BALASORE: The district is among the top five in the State in blood donation. But the State Government is yet to take an initiative to set up a blood separation unit in Balasore, announced a year back. Sources said the unit was to be built by the State Red Cross Society with assistance from the National AIDS Control Organisation with an initial cost of over Rs 1.5 crore. Apart from the medical colleges at Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur, Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar has a blood separation unit while one at Koraput is being set up. Once set up, the unit here will cater to the needs of patients from Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and parts of West Bengal. A blood separation component unit is crucial as patients often need particular constituents of blood like red and white blood cells, plasma and platelets. Balasore district has blood banks at the district headquarters hospital and Nilagiri sub-divisional hospital. However, sources alleged that the blood bank at Nilagiri has been lying defunct for the last five months due to non-renewal of licence. Besides, three blood storage centres at Basta, Jaleswar and Soro also fail to cater to the needs of the patients due to lack of proper storage facilities. The patients also depend on the blood bank at Balasore. Blood components are essential in the treatment of cancer, thalassemia, kidney-related diseases and severe burn cases besides critical accident patients. Balasore CDMO BM Satapathy said blood component separation unit is an essential part of a blood bank. “If the constituents of blood like RBC, platelet or plasma are separated as per the requirement, one unit of blood can be used for three or four patients. In fact, the blood can be used effectively without any loss,” he said. Recently, at the blood bank meeting a proposal has been mooted to seek fund allocation immediately. Officials said the unit here would be the fifth of its kind in the State. “The unit, once set up, will be very helpful for patients of the Northern Odisha region. The blood collected from donors can also be stored for more than 35 days at this unit,” the CDMO said. The blood bank here collects nearly 13,000 units of blood annually. Last year, it had collected over 13,000 units, including 9,000 units from camps. In April and May, as many as 4,000 units of blood was collected in the district.
Comments
0 comment