Haemophiliacs in Mumbai have appealed to the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ensure the provision of free blood factors in their hospitals.
Haemophiliacs in Mumbai have appealed to the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ensure the provision of free blood factors in their hospitals.
“The state should provide free factor 8, factor 9, and FEIBA for our patients. We are not asking for money. We just want hospitals to store these life-saving drugs,” said Balshiram Ghandhave, secretary of Haemophilia
Society, Mumbai.
Haemophilia is a group of genetic disorders that impairs the body’s ability to control blood clotting which controls bleeding. A patient requires repeated blood component therapy, about 10,000 units of blood factor every year for sheer survival. Each unit of factor costs between Rs9 to Rs40. As per the patient list with various haemophilia societies, the number of haemophiliacs in the state are 2,390.
Other states like Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Bihar are making moves to ensure that these factors are provided by the state free of cost to the patients. “We should also follow their example,” stressed Gandhave.
Gandhave gave the example of a Kandivli resident who had to be rushed to KEM Hospital after a serious accident injuring his hip bone. He needed factors for surgery, which had to be arranged by Haemophilia Society. “If the hospital had stocked it up, there would have been no problem,” said Gandhave.
In the recent state budget, Rs92.77 crore was allotted for the treatment of haemophilia, thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia patients. “We are planning to meet officials at the department of health services on April 20. The treatment is too expensive for a common man to bear,” said Dr Kanjaksha Ghosh, director of National Insitute of Immunoheamatology. The BMC had allocated Rs10 lakh last year for the same, but not a single rupee was spent.
The state had earlier provided free plasma transfusion in the state blood bank. However, 17 such patients contracted the HIV virus and many were detected with hepatitis. “We need anti-haemophiliac factors, not plasma,” said Gandhave.
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