Nellore: Blood distribution network to be expanded to remote areas

Nellore: To meet the demand for blood and spruce up the existing blood bank units, the AP Red Cross Society is going to provide advanced equipment across the State for resolving the major issue of shortage by separating components from whole blood. Officials are also planning to expand the blood distribution network, even to remote areas.

In fact, blood is a specialised body fluid, and it has four main components such as plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Now, there are 18 blood banks across the State and the majority of them have whole blood and very limited banks have component separation facility.

There were 13 districts earlier in Andhra Pradesh and 13 other new districts were formed on April 4, 2022, and consequently the number increased to 26. IRCS blood banks are located in Vijayawada, Eluru, Tanuku, Narasapuram, Guntur, Repalle, Anantapur, Kadapa, Chittoor, Kakinda, Machilipatnam, Kurnool, Prakasam, Nellore, Kavali, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.

AP Red Cross Society is planning to start blood banks in all new districts across the State and is providing advanced technology to some of them initially. New units are being started at Tirupati, Bhimavaram, Ongole and Narasaraopet. There is a blood bank in Chittoor and officials are constructing a new unit in Tirupati providing equipment worth Rs 1.5 crore.

Normally, there is an average blood requirement of 1 pc of the total population that comes to around 5 lakh units per annum out of 5 crore population in the State. As much as 350 ml of whole blood is now being provided to a single patient that consists of all components such as packaged red blood cells, plasma and platelets.

Now, with the availability of advanced equipment there is a possibility of component separation and thereby they can supply it to at least to three persons for a particular need. Officials say more people get benefitted due to the separation. It costs about Rs 1.5 crore for setting up a new whole blood unit and the IRCS State unit is planning to separate components and make them available at all important divisions and mandals.

"We are planning blood storage points at all government facilities such as PHCs and Area Hospitals for the benefit of patients who cannot travel distant places for want of blood. The stocks are components rather than whole blood for meeting the demand particularly. This is possible with Rs 3 lakh even at remote villages," said Dr A Sridhar Reddy, State chairman of AP Red Cross Society.

Further, the State unit is also planning to launch AC buses for collecting blood from the eligible and interested persons on the spot, without relying on special blood collection centres. They are also engaging vaccination buses on their own based on the demand for flu, typhoid etc along with mobile checkup buses and also engaging ambulances with latest lifesaving equipment.

"There is a demand for blood from February to May every year due to exams, summer vacation and other reasons and we rely on government employees, bank staffers and private employees to meet the demand. We have to supply blood to Thalassemia patients free of cost up to 1,700 units every month. There are Thalassemia centres at Vizag, Nellore, Kakinada, and Eluru currently," said BVS Kumar, State coordinator of Blood Banks and Projects.

He added that they would soon start 'Blood Donation At Call' cells in all districts for collecting 'warm blood' for providing it to patients with heart and kidney treatments. Warm blood, they say, is collected on the same day when the donor is available. So, they are preparing a database of donors and call them and request for supply of warm blood for meeting the demand through these centres.