The Centre has sanctioned Rs 185 crore to set up a plasma fractionation centre as part of the ongoing National AIDS Control programme- phase-III worth Rs 250 crore, to ensure access of plasma derivatives to needy patients at affordable prices.

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal in this regard recently. The centre is expected to reduce the dependence to imports of factor VIII and factor IX derivatives and save foreign exchange, according to the official sources.

The proposal was forwarded to the government along with the project for setting up four metro-blood banks in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi with state-of-the-art facilities and capacity to collect and process 1,00,000 units of blood annually, with a view to enhance access to high quality blood throughout the year. Though Centre had approved Rs 450 crore for the purpose, the proposal for plasma centre was pending for clearance. The place for the centre would be decided by the authorities later after looking into the feasibilities.

Plasma is one of the components of blood and can be used for preparation of several plasma derivatives. Transfusion of plasma and administration of plasma fractionation derivatives is indicated for many medical conditions as a life saving measure for Haemophilia-A, Haemophilia -B, Von-Willebrnd's disease, Immunodeficiencies, and others. These patients require periodic transfusion of a desired plasma product for their clinical management. However, in the absence of access to these derivatives, whole blood is used which is a sub-optimal use of the blood.

"The bulk demand for the plasma components is met through imports. Plasma and plasma derivatives are not accessible to the economically poor patients due to high costs. Haemophiliacs need to take Anti Haemophilic factor (AHF) at periodic intervals, lifelong depending on the severity of the condition. Thus, bulk portion of existing demand is met through import of plasma products on an estimated foreign exchange Rs.80-90 crore annually," a statement said.

As a step in the direction of addressing this need, it is proposed to set up a Plasma Fractionation Centre with capacity to process 1.5 lakh litres of plasma annually. The centre will process plasma to make plasma components i.e. Albumin, Gammaglobulin, Prothrombin complex, Thrombin and Anti-haemophilic factor etc. These products will be provided to public sector hospitals at affordable prices for the treatment of economically weaker sections of the society to ensure equitable access to the life saving products, thus achieving self-sufficiency.