The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to start blood banks under the public-private partnership (PPP) model in five suburban hospitals in Mumbai.
The blood banks will initially operate for 10 years and may later be renewed for another 10+10 years, making the total contract period 30 years. Hospital spaces will be leased out to private institutions for this purpose. However, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has opposed the proposal, arguing that blood bag prices may become unaffordable for common citizens if private agencies run the blood banks.
Currently, suburban municipal hospitals in Mumbai do not have blood bank facilities. Therefore, the civic body has decided to introduce blood centres with blood component separation facilities under the PPP model at the following five hospitals:
The civic body has selected private organisations to run these blood banks. The proposal, which includes leasing hospital spaces to private agencies, has been placed before the Improvements Committee for approval.
Opposing the proposal, Improvements Committee member Sachin Padwal said the municipal corporation should strengthen its own blood banks instead of handing them over to private institutions. He alleged that the civic body is deliberately not filling vacant posts or providing manpower to municipal blood banks in order to portray them as inefficient and justify privatisation.
Padwal also objected to allocating nearly 300 square metres of hospital space to private agencies for blood banks. He warned that the cost of blood bags could increase under this system, making treatment difficult for patients suffering from conditions such as Thalassemia, who require blood transfusions every 10 days.
Proposed Blood Bank Locations and Annual Lease Amounts:
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