The health department of Andhra Pradesh has directed all blood banks in the state to send samples of blood collected to the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) for safety tests. There are five mandatory tests for the banks to ensure blood safety before blood is released for transfusion.

Informed sources said that as there was no foolproof method to check if the blood was actually tested by the blood banks for notified diseases. Health officials say that blood was not being sent for quality control tests and the latest order would make it compulsory to test all blood collected for HIV, Hepatitis B & C, venereal diseases and malaria, among others.

Besides, all district leprosy officers, who are nodal officers under the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society (APSACS), will have to collect random samples and send them to IPM's biologically standard quality control department to make blood safety regulations foolproof. Further, blood bags, reagents and disposables would also be tested at IPM, according to APSACS joint director (blood safety) M V Ramana Rao.

In the case of HIV tests, Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centres (VCTCs) and Prevention of Transmission from Mother to Child Testing Centres (PMTC) would also have to send positive samples and five per cent of negative samples randomly to the 10 teaching hospitals designated as quality control centres. The MGR Hospital at Chennai has been designated as the external agency for HIV tests and an external agency for blood banks would soon be appointed, Dr Rao said.

Incidentally, the twin cities top in violation under the Drugs Act 1940, with 11 of the 18 prosecutions initiated against the blood banks, according to the Drug Control Administration records.

Although a large number of blood donation camps are being held in the city regularly, there is an acute shortage of blood for the needy. According to K Rajyalakshmi, General Secretary, Red Cross Society, though blood donation camps are held every three days, only 800-1000 units are collected. But the actual demand was double the collected units. With the result, certain specific requirements like thalassemic patients were not being met. These patients suffer from blood-related genetic disorders and Red Blood Corpuscles (RBC) would have to be replaced every 21 days. There are 100 such children in the city who require RBC. In the state the number is more than 200.

Besides, patients with rare blood groups also find it difficult to get blood from the Red Cross blood bank. At times they are not available in private blood banks as well. Even if they are available, exorbitant amounts are charged.