HYDERABAD: It has been a month since the Telangana Drug Control Administration (DCA) issued notices to blood banks in the State to upload realtime information, on availability of blood, to the ‘e-RaktKosh’ website. So far, only 124 out of 176 blood banks in the State are following it. Also, officials are sceptical if the information is accurate.
They fear some of them might be uploading old, inaccurate information just to show they are following the rules. To clear the doubt, DCA Director Preeti Meena has asked drug inspectors to visit each blood bank in their jurisdiction and check if the information on the portal matches the availability of blood.
The e-RaktKosh website was mooted to ease the trouble of people in need. Users can simply enter their location on the portal and view the blood banks that are nearest to them. They can also see the availability of blood components -- like Packed Red Blood Cells or Fresh Frozen Plasma -- on a realtime basis, provided the details are uploaded by the banks.
While blood bank managements have commended the efforts, they say the process would be easier if government provided ERP software free of cost. This will address not just the data issue, but several others. “Using such a software, blood banks can upload all possible data for benefit of the people, not just the blood type,” says CEO of NTR Trust Blood Bank T Vishnu Vardhan.
Monsoon adds to troubles
ONE of the key components in treatment of dengue, that hits a peak in the monsoon season, is blood platelets. However, many blood banks do not store the platelets with them due to the financial costs involved in the process. But banks have asked patients not to get disheartened by the unavailability as it is usually extracted on a needs basis.
The cost of a single donor platelet kit is about `6,000. Additionally, it costs another `2,000 to process the platelets and conduct tests. “The shelf life of such platelets is only two days. If there are no patients who need it within that time, the money spent goes waste. So, we now extract the platelets only on needs basis,” said Vishnu Vardhan.