Government open to allow more than one blood bank per district: Health Minister JP Nadda

Government on Friday said it was open to changing norms for setting up blood banks to allow states to have more than one bank in a district.

Maintaining that 48 districts across the country did not have a blood bank, Health Minister J P Nadda informed Lok Sabha that the government would see to it that they have one soon. Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour, he said there was no "shortage of blood as such" but reaching blood in remote and distant parts of states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir and the North East region, in time was a "challenge".

According to WHO norms, the estimated requirement of blood was about 12 million units while the total collection was 10 million. But "no reports of shortage of blood or its components have been received," he said.

Nadda also allayed concerns over professional blood donors and said they were no longer a factor as 84 per cent of blood came from voluntary donors and the rest from replacement provided by kin of those needing blood. "If any case of professional blood donor is reported, we take action." Professional donors are those who charge money for donating blood.

Replying to concerns raised by B Mahtab (BJD) that the districts were not allowed to have more than one blood camp even though the needs had grown with time, Nadda said the Centre was open to "examine such norms".