BENGALURU: In July, the government announced that Rs 5,000 would be given to every recovered Covid patient who has donated plasma. However, come September, not a single donor has received the amount. What’s surprising is that there is no data either on the number of donors.Health and Family Welfare officials said they are building a database of donors, and that the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Team (SAST) will transfer the amount. A task force meeting was held on Monday where the issue was raised, they said.
Dr B Manjunath, director, Medical Management, SAST, said, “The Karnataka State Aids Prevention Society (KSAPS) is working on the plasma package. It will inform us when we can start the payment process.” A KSAPS official said “We have started getting donor details from various blood banks in the state. There are over 60 centres that are authorised to carry out donations.”
NT Abroo, executive director, SAST, told TNIE, “The incentive has not reached donors as we didn’t have data. In a week we will have all details in place and start making payments.” None of the 320 plasma donors registered at Bengaluru’s HCG Hospitalhave got their incentive, said Dr Vishal Rao, associate dean at HCG Cancer Centre, and the man behind the plasma bank in Karnataka. “The `5,000 should not be seen as an incentive. Instead, this amount should be given to cover donors’ travel and food costs. The act of donating plasma should be seen as pure goodwill.”
Fathaheen Misbah, an IT engineer and who is a Covid-19 Sahaya Task Force member, said, “On Monday, we were told the notification to provide Rs 5,000 to donors has been issued. We have been asked to inform the AB-Ark/SAST team regarding donor details, as well as the bank where the donation was made.”