OdishaPlus Bureau
“Plasma donation should be taken up as a mission across the state” : CM
- First in Western Odisha, third Plasma Bank of the State
- Capacity of storing 350-500 units of Plasma
- Advanced facilities for plasma collection
- ‘Plasma Therapy’ a boon for critical COVID patients
- Funded by District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Sundargarh
A plasma bank has been inaugurated at the Ispat General Hospital (IGH) in Rourkela. The facility was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday afternoon through video conferencing. The move follows setting up of plasma banks at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar earlier this month. It is the third plasma bank in the state and the first in western Odisha.
On the occasion, Chief Secretary Asit Kumar Tripathy, Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, 5T secretary V. Karthikeyan Pandian and other senior officials of the government were present at Lok Seba Bhawan.
“Today, the whole world including Odisha is fighting the Coronavirus pandemic. To give a new lease of life to critically ill COVID positive patients, the state has started plasma therapy. This is indeed a boon for the COVID patients and their families. With support of the people of Odisha and hard work of doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals, Odisha is in a comparatively better position. Already eight critical patients in the state have benefitted from plasma therapy and recovered. Hence, plasma donation should be carried out across the state on a mission mode. The plasma donation centre at IGH, Rourkela will be hugely successful”, said the Chief Minister.
Speaking on the occasion, ACS Health and Family Welfare Department, Govt. of Odisha, Pradeep Kumar Mohapatra said, “Till now, more than 19 thousand people have recovered from the coronavirus in the state. If everyone donates plasma, it will help save the lives of 38,000 critically ill coronavirus affected people. Therefore, people from different parts of western Odisha, including Sundargarh and Jharsuguda, who have recovered from coronavirus, should donate plasma to the IGH plasma bank”.
Minister for Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti Smt. Tukuni Sahu expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik for setting up the Plasma Bank at IGH, Rourkela. The minister, who is in charge of plasma collection initiative in Sundargarh district, said that it would be possible to fight coronavirus in the district with the help of this state-of-the-art infrastructure set up by the government.
Collector & DM Sundargarh, Nikhil Pavan Kalyan on the occasion said “We are happy that the task of setting up plasma bank given to us by the Hon’ble CM on 22nd July has been finished within 10 days. We have already got more than 100 people willing to donate plasma. We hope this facility will prove beneficial for the treatment of critically ill COVID patients.”
Labour & ESI and Rural Development Minister Susanta Singh, Rourkela MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak, Birmitrapur MLA Shakar Oram, RDC Northern Range Niranjan Sahu, Rourkela Steel Plant CEO Dipak Chattaraj, Rourkela ADM, Aboli Sunil Naravane, IGH Director Dr. Biranchi Kumar Hota, DMET Dr. CBK Mohanty, Sub-Collector Panposh Biswajit Mohapatra and CDMO Dr. Saroj Kumar Mishra were present at the event.
With financial assistance from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Sundargarh, the facility at IGH has state-of-the-art equipment and kit for plasma collection and storage.
The IGH Plasma Bank has the capacity to store over 350 to 500 units of plasma. People who have recovered from the coronavirus infection as well as those with high levels of immunity can donate plasma. Patients with low immunity and severe coronavirus infection shall be treated using the plasma therapy.
Three people donated plasma at the inaugural event while a hundred more have pledged to donate plasma in the coming days. A video on plasma therapy was also displayed on the occasion.
With positive results from plasma therapy in the state, the government has taken steps to open more plasma banks. On July 15, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had inaugurated the first Plasma Bank at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The second Plasma Bank at Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar was launched by the CM on 28th July. The state government has further planned to set up plasma banks at VSS Medical College & Hospital, Burla and MKCG Medical College & Hospital, Berhampur, in the near future.