With the Union Health Ministry’s proposal to set up the Rs 250 crore-national plasma fractionation centre at Chennai caught in red-tapism for the last six years, patients with immune disorders or severe blood loss are left with no option but to bank on the costly plasma available from private sector or imported ones.
The Government’s institute would have ensured affordable availability of plasma, which is the source of many life saving proteins for patients such as Haemophiliacs. The birth rate haemophilia in India is 32 per 1,000 births. Around 1,300 new cases of haemophilia are recorded every year.
Despite, the fact that Tamil Nadu Government has already provided the land for the project which was to have the capacity to fractionate 1.5 lakh litres of plasma per annum collected from all blood banks which are supported by the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) in the country.
Plasma fractionation is a process by which important plasma proteins can be separated from each other and preserved in a purified and concentrated form for effective treatment. Doctors say that plasma products can be used for making medicines. For example, protein albumin is used to treat patients with burns, liver and kidney diseases while immunoglobulin is used to treat patients with antibody deficiencies.
The direct benefit of implementation of this project was to ensure access of plasma derivatives to needy patients at affordable costs. It also aimed to reduce the dependence of the needy on imported products thus saving the foreign exchange.
“The proposal has failed to take off as the Ministry is still grappling with the technology to be used for the PFC plant. As the proposal was prepared with costing of 2007-08 it is likely that the estimated cost will be escalated which may require a fresh EFC approval,” sources said.
Despite delay, officials do not seem to be in a hurry to push project. “As no company has been found to be suitable for the same, whole process is being reworked. Moreover, cartelisation of technology providers in this area is causing concern in identifying the appropriate technical resources. Further, cost estimation will be revised as there has been an escalation in price since 2007-08,” sources said in the NACO.
The absence of centre also means that a large volume of excess plasma in country is being discarded as those in private sector are busy catering to their own needs or making component available at a higher price, they added.