'79 districts in India don't have blood banks'

Over 70 districts in the country do not have licensed blood banks, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The Government of India's National Blood Policy to have at least one blood bank per district is already in place, he said.

"As per information from states, there are 79 districts where there are no blood banks. Under National Health Mission, support has been provided to states to set up 74 blood banks and 1,583 blood storage centres," Choubey said.

Responding to a question on the steps taken by the government to ensure that all the districts in the country have at least one blood bank, the minister said public health is a state subject and the responsibility of setting up of blood banks, in accordance to policy of the Government of India, lies with state governments.

"State governments ensure establishment of blood banks in districts without including newly carved out districts so as to have at least one blood bank per district," the minister said in his reply.

Arunachal Pradesh tops the list with 14 of its districts not having blood banks, followed by Manipur (12 districts), Nagaland (nine districts) and Assam (eight districts).