Delhi Government sets up first “Plasma Bank” in India

The Plasma Bank will be set up at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS)

• Delhi Government has announced of setting up first “Plasma bank” in India for the treatment of covid-19 patients
• The Plasma Bank will be set up at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS)
• A person who has recovered successfully from the COVID-19 infection can donate his or her plasma

Background for the establishment

• The facility will be set up at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) and will be made available for government and private hospitals after getting a doctor’s recommendation
• Delhi tops the country’s list of highest cases in a city with the tally at 83,077
• Of these, 27847 are active cases, while over 52,000 patients have recovered from the disease
• Delhi Government said looking at problems being faced by patients in arranging plasma; a common bank was being created
• It is not mandatory for patients to reach out to the bank to undergo plasma therapy

Key highlights of the Plasma therapy by India

• Plasma can be given by those people who have had covid-19 and have recovered
• If the antibody from their blood is given to a patient suffering, they can recover faster
• This will be the first plasma bank in the country. The aim is to make the process of plasma easier
• If a patient wants to get plasma on their own, they can continue doing that the hospital or doctor will approach ILBS and the bank will be functional in two days
• The therapy requires drawing blood from patients who have recovered from covid-19 and using the plasma and antibodies from that blood on patients who are suffering
• Unlike blood donation, only the plasma is drawn from the blood
• Doctors involved in the trial said they use the therapy on patients who are in the second stage of the disease, wherein lungs get affected
• Using this opportunity to help save other people’s lives
• But there is no guarantee that plasma will save everyone
• If a patient is in a moderate state, it is helpful for them

About “Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS)”

• It is a mono super specialty hospital for liver and biliary diseases located at New Delhi, India
• It has been established by the Government of the Nation Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi as an autonomous Institute, under the Societies Registration Act – 1860, at New Delhi with Shiv Kumar Sarin as its founding director
• ILBS is a teaching hospital and has been given the status of Deemed University by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India
• ILBS has been created by the Government of Delhi to make it a dedicated international center of excellence for the diagnosis and management of liver and biliary diseases and to provide advanced training and research in the field of Hepato-biliary Sciences
• ILBS is an education which is focused on Liver and Biliary Sciences, however, Nephrology an important sister branch of the hospital

Pic courtesy : livemint.com