Metro Blood Banks as Centres of Excellence in Transfusion Medicine

[Guest guest]

Setting up of four Metro Blood Banks as Centres of Excellence in

Transfusion Medicine

Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today gave its approval for

setting up of four (4 nos.) of Metro Blood Banks as Centres of

Excellence in Transfusion Medicine at a cost of Rs.468 crores out of

which Rs.228 crore will be as a part of the ongoing National AIDS

Control Programme-III (NACP-III).

These Centres will be located at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and

Chennai. Each centre will ensure 24 hour availability of blood and

is designed to meet the highest standards of safety. The functions

of the centres are envisaged to:

(i) Collect more than 100,000 units of blood annually. These will be

processed into 3 blood components resulting in generation of more

than 300,000 units.

(ii) Expand training programme to include doctors, technicians, nurse

and other health personnel.

(iii) Handle any type of natural or man-made disaster or outbreak of

like dengue, which often require large volumes of blood transfusions

at short notice and

(iv) Collect blood only from voluntary blood donors through state-of-

art Blood Mobiles, qualitatively improving the system of blood

collection.

Out of Rs.468.00 crore, Rs.168 crore will be for building

construction and equipment, Rs.80 crore for manpower and Rs.220 crore

for consumables and other recurring expenditure.

These centres would benefit in strengthening Blood Transfusion

Services in the country for access to safe and quality blood and

blood products in metro cities, as comparable to international

standards.

The time frame will be co-terminus to Phase-III of the National AIDS

Control Programme i.e. 2007-2012.

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=40845