Governor bats for NAT at 2 more Red Cross blood banks

Visakhapatnam: Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States E S L Narasimhan has suggested the new State body of the Indian Red Cross Society to introduce Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAT) of blood donors for HCV and HIV in two more Red Cross blood banks in the State.

This NAT study will evaluate the accuracy of an experimental test method called Nucleic Acid Amplification Technology in detecting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV).

The Governor, who participated in the annual general body of the Indian Red Cross Society, here on Friday, has nominated new members for the State body, including Rachel Chatterjee as chairperson, Justice Lakshmana Rao and N Ramesh as vice-chairmen and Bala Subrahmanyam as general secretary.

After visiting the NAT facility, the Governor felt that it would help a lot to provide clean and quality blood and asked the new State body to focus on encouraging yoga and nature cure. The Indian Red Cross members should visit hospitals at regular intervals to infuse confidence among the patients about the blood supply and to involve youth in social activities.

To ensure sufficient blood stock, the members should take precautions by organising blood donation camps encouraging the student community.Later, the Governor inaugurated the Solar Power Plant set up at the Indian Red Cross Blood Bank with a cost of Rs 25 lakh.

Governor’s secretary Haripreet Singh, new chairperson Rachel Chatterjee, vice-chairmen Justice Lakshmana Rao and N Ramesh, general secretary Bala Subrahmanyam and Visakha Society chairman Dr P Venugopal and members were present.