Centre to make NAT mandatory for blood transfusions, set up hubs in states: Report

The Centre is planning to make Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) mandatory for blood transfusions in a phased manner, a report in News18 said on Saturday. The plan is to establish 'capital blood centres' and extend “national EQA (external quality assessment) programmes across the country, the report added. The NAT is the safest blood testing method that detects major life-threatening viruses transmitted through blood such as hepatitis C (HCV), hepatitis B, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), malaria, and syphilis. India has for a prolonged time suffered in ensuring blood safety against transfusion-transmitted infections (TTI).

A letter by the chief of the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) said, "The government of India is committed to providing safe and adequate quantity of blood through an organised blood transfusion service in the country."

The letter comes amid a request by Dr J S Arora, the General Secretary of the National Thalassemia Welfare Society (NTWS) to make NAT mandatory for blood donors.

NBTC has thus planned to expand the national EQA programme to all states and union territories, the report said.

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Under the national EQA programme, a laboratory’s testing procedures can be compared to other laboratories across the country that includes running blind patient-like samples and comparing one lab’s results to peer results so that the accuracy of a report is ensured.

“The government of India is planning to expand the National EQA Programme to all states and UTs in a phase-wise manner and NAT testing facility will also be available in these EQAs centres,” the report said, quoting the letter.

The letter also added that the "government is also working on a concept proposal on capital blood centre in each state which is envisaged to have NAT testing facility”, the report said.

The government aims to create a “capital blood centre” as the primary blood screening facility in every state of the country and any hospital that does not have the NAT facility can get their tests done at these state centres.

According to the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services in the Government of Puducherry, India needs 8 million units of blood per year, but only 4 million units are collected. Of these, only 2 million units come from voluntary donors, and the remaining are from relative and exchange donors, resulting in a 50 per cent shortage.