Experts Demand Blood Safety Reforms to Protect Thalassemia Patients

In a new position paper, launched by the Thalassemia Patients Advocacy Group (TPAG), the experts stressed the need for safe, timely, and equitable access to blood and called it a fundamental issue of survival, dignity, and constitutional responsibility.

"For individuals with thalassemia who require lifelong, regular blood transfusions, gaps in screening protocols, uneven access to advanced diagnostic technologies, and fragmented regulation pose serious and preventable risks, including transfusion-transmitted infections such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C," said the experts in the paper.

The experts include Prof. N.K. Ganguly, Former Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR); Prof. Bejon Kumar Misra, Public Health Advocate; Suneha Paul, Thalassemia Patient Advocate; P.C. Sen, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; and Tuhin A. Sinha, National Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The paper positioned blood safety as a foundational pillar of India's healthcare infrastructure that must be addressed proactively rather than reactively.

It consolidates patient experiences, scientific evidence, legal perspectives, and public health expertise into a unified, action-oriented roadmap to strengthen India's blood safety ecosystem and safeguard the lives of transfusion-dependent patients, particularly those living with thalassemia.

Drawing on deliberations with policymakers, clinicians, scientists, legal experts, and patient advocates, the paper highlights persistent systemic challenges, including the non-uniform adoption of Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) across blood banks, the absence of a consolidated national blood law, inequitable access to safe blood in rural and underserved regions, and limited transparency and accountability within the transfusion system.

It argued that these gaps collectively undermine patient trust and expose vulnerable populations to avoidable harm.

"Our position paper is a call to place patient lives at the centre of policy, to move blood safety from the margins to the mainstream of healthcare governance, and to ensure that preventable risks are eliminated through science, law, and accountability," said Deepak Chopra, Mentor, Thalassemia Patients Advocacy Group (TPAG).

The paper also recommended mandating Nucleic Acid Testing across all blood banks to minimise window-period infections and harmonise screening standards nationwide; enacting a comprehensive and enforceable Blood Safety Act to codify patient rights and institutional responsibilities; launching a dedicated National Thalassemia Control Programme to integrate prevention, screening, and long-term care.

- IANS