Dharavi to witness the first plasma donation camp in the country

In a first, Dharavi, which had become the hotbed for the coronavirus, is all set to witness a plasma donation camp. This is being initiated and overlooked by the Police. The people who had battled the coronavirus and recovered were screened earlier in the week. According to sources, in the next phase, people living in the city who have defeated the coronavirus will be screened. This will be followed by the donation camp that will be held on July 27.

Rahul Shewale, an MP from the constituency who played a key role in the first phase of the screening stated that the target is to donate plasma to at least 500 people. Recently, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the world's largest plasma therapy trial centre. This centre has been set up at Government Medical College, Nagpur.

Plasma therapy with regards to the novel coronavirus pertains to the method in which the blood plasma is taken from the patients who have recovered from the COVID-19 infection and are then added to the cell cultures in order to effectively let the antibodies in the plasma neutralize the virus and save the life of a newly infected person.

Patients who have recovered after battling COVID-19 can donate plasma after 28 days. So far 2,492 people have been found infected with the coronavirus in Dharavi. This includes 24 policemen from the Dharavi police station and 26 policemen from the Sahu Nagar police station. However, the ones suffering from diabetes will not be allowed to donate plasma. Only those who are healthy, without comorbidities, can participate in this process.

Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shewale speaking about the initiative has stated that not only the country but this also happens to be the world's first plasma donation camp. He further opined speaking about the way people came forward during the screening that more than 500 people will come to donate. Shewale added that after the success of the plasma donation camp, not only Mumbai but every state of the country will be forced to set up plasma donation camps to help the COVID-19 patients.