Over 3 lakh litres of surplus plasma in state blood banks, says Minister Hasan Mushrif; directs utilisation for life-saving drugs
Mumbai, June 17
Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif on Monday directed officials to prepare a detailed proposal for the effective utilisation of surplus plasma available in the state for manufacturing life-saving medicines and improving access to affordable treatment.
A review meeting of the Medical Education Department was held at Mantralaya under the chairmanship of Minister Mushrif, which was attended by Medical Education and Drugs Department Secretary Dheeraj Kumar, Commissioner Anil Bhandari, and other senior officials.
During the meeting, discussions were held on the large quantity of excess plasma available in blood banks across Maharashtra. Officials informed that the state has around 450 blood banks, of which 79 are government-run, while the remaining are operated by private and voluntary organisations. It was further informed that while the government sector currently has about 25,000 litres of surplus plasma, the private sector holds more than 3,00,000 litres.
The meeting also deliberated on utilising this surplus plasma for manufacturing medicines used in the treatment of haemophilia, thalassaemia, and other serious diseases. Minister Mushrif directed officials to prepare a comprehensive proposal in this regard and initiate further action.
Apart from this, the meeting also reviewed several issues related to the Medical Education Department, including improvement in departmental schemes, functioning of committees, preparations for International Yoga Day, progress of ongoing projects in Gondia, availability of manpower in medical colleges and hospitals, plans for inauguration of a dental college and auditorium, and infrastructure development in medical institutions.
The Minister instructed officials to ensure prompt follow-up on all proposals discussed during the meeting with a positive approach.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Finally some common sense! 🎉 For years we've been donating blood but never knew plasma could be used like this. My neighbour's son has thalassaemia and spends lakhs every year on medicines made from imported plasma products. If this works, it'll be a game-changer for common people. But please ensure quality control - we can't compromise on safety standards.
Good move, but I'm skeptical about private sector having 3 lakh litres of surplus plasma. Are they hoarding it? Why not mandate all blood banks to share this data transparently? Also, we need to check wastage - plasma expires after one year if frozen properly. Hope this doesn't become another case of red tape delaying implementation. State govt should set up plasma fractionation plants like in Gujarat.
As a regular blood donor, this makes me happy! We donate whole blood but the plasma often gets wasted because it's not easy to store and process. I hope they also educate people about plasma donation separately - many don't know you can donate plasma more frequently than whole blood. But please don't make this a political issue; it's about saving lives. Kabhi toh public interest pe focus karein!
Interesting development. While it's clearly beneficial, I'm curious about the regulatory framework. Plasma-derived medicines require strict processing under GMP conditions. Is Maharashtra ready with the infrastructure for biological product manufacturing? Also, what about intellectual property issues if they want to produce patented therapies? Hope the proposal addresses these technical aspects, not just intentions.
D Deepak U