Lok Sabha Question No. 1123 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-04
Subject: Transfer of Blood between Blood Banks
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI, VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK, PRALHAD VENKATESH JOSHI, CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SANTOSH AHLAWAT

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1123 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH DECEMBER, 2015

## TRANSFER OF BLOOD BE TWEEN BLOOD BANKS

## 1123. SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR HANSDAK:

SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of blood banks in public and private sector in the country, State/ UT - wise;
- (b)  whether  the  Government  has recently  granted  permission  for  transfer  of blood  from  one blood bank to another and issued guidelines for the purpose;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with the extent to which the move is expected to address the short age of blood in the country; and
- (d) the other measures being taken by the Government for better storage and utilisation of blood and blood components in the country?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI SHRIPAD YESSO NAIK )

- (a): The number of blood banks in public and private sector in the country, State/UT - wise; as per information submitted by DCG(I) is at Annexure -I
- (b): Yes.
- (c): Policy of transfer for Blood from one blood bank to another has been app roved so as to avoid wastage of surplus bloods in some blood banks, and mitigate scarcity of blood in blood banks. The detail guidelines for transfer are placed at Annexure -II.
- (d): Another  policy  decision  has  also  been  taken  to  allow  for  exchange of  surplus  plasma available  with  indigenous  fractionators  for  fractionation  and  derivation  of  essential derived medicine like human albumin and clotting factors.

Clinicians are also provided training on appropriate use of blood and blood compon for optimal usages.

Number of licensed blood bank in India State / UT wise up to Nov. 2015

| S.NO   | NAME OF STATE        | Public including Govt. Blood Banks   | Private including charitable trust Blood Bank   |   TOTAL |
|--------|----------------------|--------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|---------|
| 1      | Andaman & Nicobar    | 2                                    | 1                                               |       3 |
| 2      | Andhra Pradesh       | 32                                   | 93                                              |     125 |
| 3      | Arunachal Pradesh    | 9                                    | 1                                               |      10 |
| 4 *    | Assam                | 37                                   | 28                                              |      65 |
| 5 *    | Bihar                | 32                                   | 35                                              |      67 |
| 6      | Chandigarh           | 3                                    | 1                                               |       4 |
| 7      | Chhattisgarh         | 19                                   | 30                                              |      49 |
| 8      | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | -                                    | 1                                               |       1 |
| 9      | Daman & Diu          | 1                                    | 1                                               |       2 |
| 10     | NCT of Delhi         | 22                                   | 47                                              |      69 |
| 11     | Goa                  | 3                                    | 1                                               |       4 |
| 12     | Gujarat              | 30                                   | 106                                             |     136 |
| 13     | Haryana              | 26                                   | 50                                              |      76 |
| 14     | Himachal Pradesh     | 19                                   | 3                                               |      22 |
| 15     | Jammu & Kashmir      | 29                                   | 4                                               |      33 |
| 16     | Jharkhand            | 26                                   | 18                                              |      44 |
| 17 *   | Karnataka            | 39                                   | 144                                             |     183 |
| 18     | Kerala               | 43                                   | 140                                             |     183 |
| 19     | Lakshadweep          | 1                                    | 0                                               |       1 |
| 20     | Madhya Pradesh       | 54                                   | 90                                              |     144 |
| 21     | Maharashtra          | 74                                   | 236                                             |     310 |
| 22     | Manipur              | 4                                    | 1                                               |       5 |
| 23     | Meghalaya            | 5                                    | 2                                               |       7 |
| 24     | Mizoram              | 8                                    | 2                                               |      10 |
| 25 *   | Nagaland             | 5                                    | -                                               |       5 |
| 26 *   | Odisha               | 63                                   | 20                                              |      83 |
| 27     | Pondicherry          | 3                                    | 10                                              |      13 |
| 28 *   | Punjab               | 48                                   | 53                                              |     101 |
| 29 *   | Rajasthan            | 48                                   | 54                                              |     102 |
| 30     | Sikkim               | 2                                    | 1                                               |       3 |
| 31     | Tamil Nadu           | 102                                  | 198                                             |     300 |
| 32 *   | Telangana            | 27                                   | 113                                             |     140 |
| 33     | Tripura              | 6                                    | 2                                               |       8 |
| 34 *   | Uttar Pradesh        | 100                                  | 142                                             |     242 |
| 35     | Uttarkhand           | 20                                   | 8                                               |      28 |
| 36     | West Bengal          | 81                                   | 39                                              |     120 |
|        | Total                | 1023                                 | 1675                                            |    2698 |

*Data up to Feb.-2015

## Annexure-II

Bulk  transfer  of  blood  and  blood  components  amongst  licensed  blood  banks  in  the  country  would henceforth be allowed under the following conditions:-

- I. Transfers  shall  be  allowed  between  licensed  blood  banks  in  any  sector  (Public,  NGO,  and Private).
- II. Transfer  of  blood  and  components  in  bulk  shall  be  permitted  across  State  borders  to  also ensure the availability at the point of need.
- III. All  transfers  shall be  done  at  the  recommended  temperature  and  as  per  prescribed  storage conditions for whole blood and components. The supplier blood bank shall be responsible for compliance thereof.
- IV. The  recipient  blood  bank  should  have  the  capacity  to  hold  the  units  requested  for,  at appropriate temperature till the time of utilization.
- V. Broad based donor consent should be incorporated in the standard donor form to ensure that the donor agrees to his blood unit being utilized beyond the blood bank where it is donated.
- VI. The supplier blood bank can levy the prescribed processing charges on the patient/recipient/recipient blood bank as per NBTC norms. However, the recipient blood bank can  levy  only  processing  charging  for  compatibility  testing  (cross-matching),  in  addition  to charges  levied  by  the  supplier  blood  bank,  from  the  patient/recipient  for  such  transferred units.
- VII. Only  one  transfer  shall  be  allowed,  and  recipient  blood  bank  cannot  further  transfer  units obtained  from  another  blood  bank  except  to  another  blood  storage  center  or  a  patient/ recipient.
- VIII. Records of traceability shall be retained throughout the process.
- IX. Supplier blood bank would be responsible for all the complications except for those related to compatibility testing, which will be the responsibility of the recipient blood bank.  Recipient blood  bank  shall  report  and  evaluate  all  the  adverse  transfusion  reactions,  including  those happening due to blood that has been transferred from supplier blood bank.
- X. Documents accompanying transfer shall include TTI testing report and record of transport in appropriate temperature.
- XI. All recipient blood banks are considered deemed approved to act as functional storage centers for  blood  and  blood  components,  even  though  the  upper  limit  of  2000  units  utilization  per annum is not applicable.
- XII. All  blood  banks  and  storage  units  be  instructed  to  issue  blood  to  all  patients  needing transfusion and not restricting blood issue to captive requirements of institution to which they are attached.
- XIII. Blood banks would be informing regarding bulk transfers to SBTC and in case of inter-state bulk transfers to NBTC.