Anantapur GGH in dire need of SDPS equipment

Anantapur: Blood purification and platelets separation equipment is dire need of people especially in this crucial period when coronavirus is ruling the roost in the district. In a district having 50 lakh population, what is a matter of concern is, that the Government General Headquarters hospital catering to more than 10,000 out-patients per day does not have the Plasma Single Donor Platelets Separation (SDPS) equipment, which costs around Rs 20 lakh but this centre is sanctioned two private blood banks, who are minting money from the people.

No wonder hundreds of patients come to these blood banks and pay Rs 11,000 for blood platelets supply to patient. Serpentine queues of patients can be seen at any given time every day. Neither the people's representatives nor the hospital superintendent feels the need to purchase the equipment when it is necessary for plasma therapy for Covid patients and blood platelets supply to those, who are dying for want of it.

At a time when nobody cares for the people's dire need, Sanjeevini, a small service organization, engaged in burial of stigmatic Covid bodies, had been campaigning and agitating for equipment for over 5 years and even staged dharnas for the cause.

Their demand for equipment once again comes to the fore as Plasma therapy uses blood donated by corona recovered patients to introduce antibodies in those under treatment.

In a memorandum faxed to the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Ramana made an impassioned plea to him to sanction one such equipment in all the government hospitals including area hospitals in the district. This would reduce the burden of poor and help in saving poor patients, who are in need of single donor blood platelets and for plasma therapy for Covid patients.

Ramana told The Hans India that every day more than 10,000 people from 63 mandals visit the GGH for whom it is the only ray of hope for treatment of multiple ailments. Many people suffering from life threatening diseases need the centre with the medical equipment to handle blood purification and platelets separation from Single Blood Donor Platelets (SBDP).

A healthy person will have 2 lakh platelets in his blood but when dengue, swine flu or any such disease strikes him, his blood platelets dips to 1 lakh or even to 50,000-10,000, which is when he would be on the edge of life. Unless platelets are donated to him, he will not survive. The government interestingly had given such a crucial centre to a private blood bank which is minting money. The process of separating platelets from blood is a time-consuming procedure and is not easy as donating blood. It would take 2 to 3 hours for the separation to take place and until such time the patient has to be on the bed.

Ramana says that he is one phone call away to anyone in medical distress. His cell number is 9440476651.