Pune:10 blood storage centres shut over licence non-renewal

Pune: The blood collection process in Maharashtra's Pune city has come to a standstill after nearly ten blood storage centres (BSCs) closed down in the district due to the non-renewal of licenses.

There are eleven blood storage centres in Pune, out of which ten are currently closed down. Dr Nagnath Yempalay, the district civil surgeon, said they would be issuing a reminder letter to all the hospitals housing the BSCs regarding license renewal.

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Stating that they had already asked the centres to complete their renewal process by issuing a letter back in January, Yempalay said, "We will ask them to make the BSCs operational on priority and submit us a report. We are also getting inquiries about the same from the state government. At many places where the BSCs are located, development work is ongoing."

The storage centres have not applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for renewing their licenses for around one year. As per a media report in the Hindustan Times, the staff working at the BSCs are finding the online process for renewal applications difficult.

The Maharashtra government in 2015 had set up a number of blood storage centres in various districts of the state so that patients from rural areas would not have to go to far-off places to access blood. Out of the closed down ten centres, four are located in sub-district hospitals of Bhor, Daund, Manchar and Indapur and the remaining are found in rural hospitals of Ghodegaon, Junnar, Saswad, Yavat and Shikrapur and at Baramati Women’s Hospital.

The current summer weather already affects the blood donations, there is a shortage of blood at the State Blood Transfusion Council during this time of the year every time. The closing down of the BSCs has only added onto the problem. For instance, the district blood bank at Aundh Hospital has already reduced its blood collection through camps and walk-in donors.

Stating that they are responsible for supplying blood to these storage centres, Dr Nisha Teli, blood transfusion officer at the Aundh blood bank, said, "The same blood is used while handling medical emergencies, surgery or trauma patients. However, all these BSCs are closed as the license approval is pending and eventually, the demand for blood from them has stopped."

Dr Teli pointed out that they have reduced their blood donation and blood donation camps. She said, "Currently, we need around 150 bags of blood every month and we don’t do excess collection to avoid wastage of blood. Every centre comes up with a reason behind the pending renewal is they are unable to apply online for the renewals."

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