NACO to upgrade existing blood bank facilities

Mamata mishra
GUWAHATI, Sept 24 – Amid the rising cancer graph in the State, Dr B Barooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) has found a helping hand in the form of National AIDS Control Society (NACO)’s affiliation to its existing blood bank.

The well-known cancer institute of the region would now get technical and manpower support from NACO through Assam State AIDS Control Society, apart from specific manpower training from time to time.

Confirming this, Dr Amal Chandra Kataki, Director, BBCI told The Assam Tribune that the existing blood bank of the institute would be upgraded with regular supply of ‘consumables’ apart from manpower support through this tie-up.

“We have to incur an expenditure of around Rs 900 for testing on per bottle of blood, acquired from voluntarily donors. With the blood testing kits, now to be available from NACO, the BBCI would definitely get a certain amount of financial relief,” Dr Kataki added.

The total cancer cases during 2007-08 in the State, as per BBCI annual report, are 3,827, out of which 1,030 are recorded in Kamrup district alone.

Whereas the national incidence of cancer is 70 – 90 per lakh of population, the incidence of cancer as per Population Based Cancer Registry in the country is second highest in Kamrup (Metro) district, which is 180 per lakh of population.

“The list of consumables comprises various mandatory testing equipments, which includes blood bags for collection and preservation of blood, transfusion related transmissible infection test kits, HIV test kits, hepatitis test kits, laboratory equipments, blood grouping reagent supply and gloves among others,” Dr Narendra Singh Tisso, Deputy Director, Blood Safety of Assam State AIDS Control Society told The Assam Tribune.

With NACO’s affiliation, the BBCI blood bank would also be entitled to get technical support and lab technicians. To keep the technical staff upgraded with the Drugs and Cosmetics Act norms, orientation trainings would be conducted by NACO and ASACS.

“The ASACS would also receive monthly reports from the cancer institute,” added Tisso.

Soruce:http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=sep2509/City