Gujarat FDA cancels licenses of 15 blood banks for violating standard norms

The Gujarat Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has canceled licenses of 15 blood banks in the state for not following standard practices to store and distribute blood. 

"The state regulator has asked these blood banks to pull down the shutter as they are repeated defaulters," said its chief Dr H G Koshia. The Gujarat FDA considers these blood banks as substandard due to the unavailability of kits to test antibodies and other equipment related issues.

There were 156 blood banks in the state, and with these cancellations, 141 have licenses to operate. Cancellation of licenses has taken place across a number of cities like Ahmadabad, Rajkot among others. 

As per the rules, a 24/7 blood bank is required to have at least three Blood Transfusion Officers (BTOs) working in shifts. It is also mandatory that while collecting and transfusing blood, its components such as plasma, white blood cells are tested in the presence of a BTO to avoid fatal mistakes.

Gujarat is not the only state to tighten the grip on blood banks. Maharashtra FDA, too in the recent past, has cancelled licenses of blood banks run by the municipal corporations. This was the outcome of a series of actions taken by the state regulator in the wake of the findings that 5 civic-run blood banks did not have a requisite number of technical staffs.

Official records suggest that in 2015, there were 2,760 blood banks functional in the country, out of this Gujarat had 136. The subsequent year saw an increase by 20. However, cancellation of these licenses brings the number back to almost the same.

Earlier Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports have pointed out the same problems which are not being tackled by the Gujarat FDA officer. Blood component separation facilities to separate blood into its constituent components such as red blood cells, platelets, plasma were not available at sites audited by the CAG.

Recently, the health ministry has also been pulled up by a parliamentary committee for not utilising funds allocated to set up blood banks in Delhi and Chennai. The ministry received Rs 404 crore for this reason.