Health Minister Deepak Sawant told the Legislative Council today that 25 government blood banks are charging more than the actual rates fixed by the government. In the disclosure of the concerned blood banks, he mentioned about additional information related to processing charges and additional test charges. Sawant also said that the FDA and health departments will submit the report to the joint committee next month.
According to the information sought under the information commission, 72 private and charitable blood bank institutes in the state have been found to levy more charges. In 2017, a blood bank has been suspended from April to October for not implementing FDA regulations while 13 licenses have been temporarily suspended, as told by Sawant.
As per the law, there is sufficient blood supply in the state, that is, one per cent of the total population, proportionate to the requirement. Hence, all the blood banks have been instructed to provide details of daily blood transfusion, processing charges, additional charges.
The state blood transit council will provide a helpline number to all blood banks in the state for the times of emergencies and urgent requirement of blood, as suggested by Hemant Takle.