NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the high rate of maternal mortality in the country due to want of safe blood during pregnancy, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said that the government will work to ensure that each district soon has a blood bank.
“Almost 88 per cent of pregnant women in this country suffer from anemia, which is a major contributor to the high maternal mortality rate in India.
“Of these, 13.5 per cent women come under the grip of acute anemia, often leading to death,” Vardhan said here at an event organized to mark World Blood Donor Day.
He said that as many as 80,000 women die in the country due to want of safe blood during pregnancy. About 87 per cent of pregnant women suffer from anemia of which 13.5 per cent suffer from acute anemia, which can be life threatening.
If there are more safe blood banks in the country, the number of women dying during pregnancy due to loss of blood can be significantly reduced, Vardhan said.
“We will see that each district in the country has a safe blood bank in the coming one-two years. I will talk to the states and civil society organizations about this. The Centre will do all it can to see that this is implemented soon,” said the Health Minister.
He also launched a National Plasma Policy on the occasion which is aimed at optimizing the use of plasma recovered by blood banks which are tested safe for clinical use.
The policy aims at making available high-quality proteins of immense clinical significance, derived from human plasma, which otherwise goes to waste.
While attempting to bridge the gap between demand and supply of such life-saving plasma-derived proteins, it seeks to ensure adequate regulatory and legislative steps for monitoring of activities related to plasma-derived products.
The policy, drafted by the Department of AIDS Control, is an addendum to the National Blood Policy, 2003.
Stating that, “every two seconds, someone in India needs blood transfusion”, Vardhan urged people to donate blood and spoke about the positive aspects of blood donation on health — from significant reduction in hypertension to reduced chances of cardiac diseases.
“Four state-of-the-art blood banks are going to be set up in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai while giving special focus to 40 selected districts where services need to be reached immediately,” he said.
Earlier, Vardhan launched a blood donation drive organized by the blood bank of RML hospital. He also felicitated several individuals who are regular donors along with organizations working in this field.
Among those honored on the occasion was the 44-year-old visually-impaired Vijay Negi, who has donated blood 25 times till date.
State Blood Transfusion Council of Maharashtra and the State AIDS Societies of Maharashtra and Uttarakhand were awarded for their “commendable work towards making safe blood available”. -PTI
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