State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) is in the final stages of setting up 10 metro blood banks in 10 districts across Maharashtra to address the primary healthcare needs of the urban poor as part of the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). At the present, there are 250 blood banks in the state, which are licensed and registered.

Collection of blood, its testing and its distribution is done through these blood banks.

The plan to set up metro blood banks according to officials will strengthen the existing 41 district-level blood banks across the state.

The blood banks will be set up at Thane, Nashik, Amravati, Nagpur, Parbhani, Satara, Chandrapur, Ahmednagar, Pune and Jalgaon. The project envisages to set up state of the art blood banks equipped with labs based on automation and digitisation. This will also complement Maharashtra government's first of its kind Blood-on-Call scheme which will have under its fold 215 blood storage centres across the state with a call centre at Pune.

According to an official, "Going by the mandate of the National Blood Policy, 2002, automation is a part of the entire chain of metro blood banks required to maintain adequate, safe, qualitative and easily accessible blood supply. Advanced Elisa screening, Slide method, Tube method and Gel technology to bring about safe and quality blood products through these blood banks will be introduced as a part of the programme."

The blood banks will cover entire community- including both rural and urban areas under the NUHM which will meet health needs of the urban population with the focus on urban poor, by making blood available to them. This will be done by investing in health professionals, appropriate technology, creating new and upgradation of existing infrastructure and strengthening the existing health care service delivery system.

The existing urban health posts and urban family welfare centres would be taken as existing infrastructure under the project.