The blood bank established in the district hospital (men) in Pauri has remained paralysed for over two and a half years. The licence of the blood bank has not been renewed since December 17, 2012 thanks to the alleged apathy of the authority concerned.
However, the chief medical officer Manish Agrawal claimed that the efforts are on to renew the licence. “We hope that the formalities of the renewal of licence will be completed soon after the Central team visits Pauri district hospital for inspection,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention that then pathologist in the district hospital lalit Mohan Gusain took the initiative of setting up the blood bank. The license was given for five years from 2007 to 2012. During this period, the blood bank operating in full swing helped the common people immensely. But things got back to the square one after the pathologist was transferred and nobody was sent to replace him. The license lapsed in 2012 and it is yet to be renewed. Director Health Garhwal region S D Uniyal said several hospitals in the region like Base Hospital Srinagar, Joint Hospital Kotdwar and Doon Hospital Dehradun aside from the state-run facilities in Gopeshwar, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Haridwar, Rishikesh and Roorkee have blood banks of their own. “It has ceased operating at Pauri because of the license not being renewed. However, the doctors in the pathology department are working there,” he said.