Submit blood bank audit report by Saturday: Health dept official

Ranchi: In the wake of the botched-up blood transfusion in Chaibasa of West Singhbhum district, the additional chief secretary of the health department, Ajoy Kumar Singh, on Thursday asked all 24 civil surgeons in the state to submit their audit reports of the blood banks in their respective districts by Saturday.Notably, the incident of five children contracting HIV after blood transfusions in the state-run Chaibasa sadar hospital exposed gross irregularities and govt apathy in blood banks across the state.Singh made the directive after hosting a high-level meeting with the civil surgeons of the 24 districts and officials concerned on Thursday. The objective of the meeting was to also make the blood banks comply with the National Blood Policy, 2002.He directed all the districts to organise maximum blood donation camps to completely ban the replacement policy for collecting blood by banks as per the national policy. “All NGOs working in the state should be connected with this campaign to promote voluntary blood donation,” Singh said. “Blood collection should be done only through voluntary donors,” he stressed, asking for complete records of blood donors.He has also instructed the civil surgeons to immediately set up ELISA test systems in all blood banks running without this facility. About the majority of blood banks in the state operating without proper licences, he said, “All blood banks must submit their applications for a licence or a new licence online through the ONDLS portal. The drug director must also submit an updated report soon.”To tackle the manpower crisis in blood banks, the officer said the blood bank in charge should preferably be a doctor with an MD in pathology, and such doctors should not be deputed elsewhere. “Instructions were given for immediate appointment in the district blood bank heads,” Singh said. He also ordered the installation of blood component separation machines in all districts.Earlier in the day, Singh, along with other officials, appeared in person before the high court during a hearing of a case in this regard.Meanwhile, state health minister Irfan Ansari visited Chaibasa to inspect the hospital and its blood bank there.