Centralised blood bank awaits funds

Even as medical experts insist that blood banks be made centralised, the Rs 340 crore central project, Centre of Excellence in Transfusion Medicine (COE) at Sion Hospital, has hit a roadblock. The project was proposed in 2009 and had been approved by the Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) in 2011.

However, the proposed state-of-the-art Metro Blood Bank is in the lurch as National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco) failed to provide money, a Right to Information query has revealed. Suresh Shetty, who had initiated the project during his tenure as health minister, said, “The project had hit roadblocks initially because of opposition by hospital staff over the approval of land but we resolved the issue and also got approval from the BMC.
However, it is surprising the initiative has not borne fruits due to lack of funds.”An area of more than 5,500 sq ft is lying vacant in the hospital. In fact, no technicians or doctors have been appointed for this centre. “The centre was supposed to have an advanced collection system, testing facilities, among others. But due to shortage of fund at Naco, it has been delayed. At least, the government should release funds for approved projects that are pending for years,” Mr Shetty added. The state-of-the-art Metro Blood Banks was approved for four metro cities —Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi. The fund has been released for other cities, barring Mumbai.

“Previously, the fund was directly sent to the project head but now, it is sent as a general fund that is then allocated to other departments. This makes the process slower which is delaying the projects,” said an official from NACO, requesting anonymity.

According to medical experts, Mumbai gets adequate amount of blood donation but still faces shortage due to lack of a centralised system. In such cases, centralised blood bank can help.

“Mumbai has too many independent blood banks that are not regulated centrally. There should be more standalone banks such as JJ Mahanagar that supplies blood across the regions. The proposed Sion blood bank was supposed to be on those lines,” said Vinay Shetti, from Think Foundation.