Blood Is Now Free In Punjab, For Those Who Need It, Courtesy State Government

In Punjab, beginning Tuesday, government hospitals will be providing blood, plasma and relevant components free of cost. The blood will be available round-the-clock in the hospitals. Patients had to pay Rs 300 as processing charge in civil hospitals and Rs 500 at Government Medical Colleges per unit.

This will be a huge relief to patients who cannot afford money for surgeries. Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Brahm Mohindra, said that this was part of the ‘Tandarust Punjab’ Mission. Components like platelet plasma and concentrate, packed RBC, fresh frozen plasma will be given free of cost.

Out of the 116 blood banks in the state, 46 are operated by the government, while 64 are being run by private entities and six by the military. This will be helpful, especially, in case of road accidents and surgeries, Deccan Herald reported.

Last year, about 2.26 lakh units of blood had been collected by blood banks run by the government and later on, the health department also launched a web portal called ‘e-Raktosh’. This will help maintain a database of blood available across banks in the state.