Rotary sets up first plasma bank in UP
While on his morning walk during the stressful Covid pandemic era, RID 3012 DG Alok Gupta suddenly had an idea… why not set up a plasma bank to help those infected by coronavirus.
In a record time of one week he was able to complete all the formalities and get the licence for setting up such a faciity, the first of the plasma banks in Uttar Pradesh, in Noida. Naveen Agarwal, President of Rotary Club of Noida, “was equally instrumental in the execution of this project,” says Gupta.
Thereafter the work progressed fast and the plasma bank was inaugurated on July 25 by the UP Health Minister Atul Garg, with the top state officials from various services participating in the inaugural. PRID Yashpal Das, members of the governing body of the Rotary Noida Blood Bank, PDGs of the district and other Rotarians participated in the inaugural through an online platform.
DG Gupta says this facility will be a great service in helping corona infected people with complications, as plasma taken from patients who have recovered from infection can help fight complications brought about by this virus. “Any patient 21 days after recovering from Covid infection can donate plasma. Our plasma bank has a storage capacity of 10,000 units of 200ml and the Rotary Noida Plasma Bank shall be providing plasma free of cost to BPL card holders and pregnant women of Gautam Buddha Nagar.”
He was happy to annouce that Niraj Khemka, a member of RC Noida, who has recovered from corona infection, became the first plasma donor at this facility.
A Rotary plasma bank is installed at the Rotary Blood Bank in Tuglakabad in Delhi. The blood bank, established by late PRID Sudarshan Agarwal, is managed by both RIDs 3011 and 3012. The plasma bank will provide convalescent plasma for treating Covid infected patients free of cost, said PDG Ramesh Aggarwal, secretary of the blood bank. The plasma bank was inaugurated with donation of plasma by a person who had just recovered from Covid.
